tei 


V 


6   ' 


&cJB&*  dty 

"# 


She  belonged  to  our  church. —  Page  J.    Frontispiece, 

v* 


MISS  PRISCILLA  HUNTER. 


AND 


MY   DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 


BY 

PANSY. 

AUTHOR    OF   "ESTER  RIED,"    "CUNNING  WORKMEN, 

"FOUR    GIRLS  AT  CHAUTAUQUA,"    "LINKS    IN 

REBECCA'S   LIFE,"    &c. 


BOSTON: 
D.    LOTHROP     AND    COMPANY. 

FRANKLIN    ST.,    CORNER    OF    IIAWXEY. 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

D.    LOTHROP    &    CO. 
1879. 


PS1 

J25-20 


MISS  PRISCILLA  HUNTER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SHE    DISCUSSES    THE    SITUATION. 


f  trw 
^HE  belonged  to  our  church.     That  is 

really  the  first  sentence  to  use  by 
way  of  introduction,  for  if  there  was 
any  one  thing  for  which  she  was 
enlisted,  heart  and  soul  and  body,  it  was 
our  church.  How  did  she  look?  Dear 
7 


8  MISS  PEISCILLA    HTJNTEB. 

me!  She  never  stopped  to  consider  and 
I  am  not  sure  that  any  one  else  ever  did 
but  a  great  many  people  knew  how  she 
acted,  which  is  certainly  much  more  to 
the  point.  The  time  of  which  I  am 
about  to  tell  you  was  one  of  special 
interest  to  our  church,  in  fact  affairs 
reached  a  crisis,  and  to  come  to  the 
point  at  once,  I  may  as  well  tell  you 
that  we  were  in  debt.  Not  largely,  the 
sum  was  not  above  five  thousand  dollars, 
all  told.  Neither  was  ours  a  struggling 
church,  situated  on  the  frontier,  or  set 
back  in  one  of  the  by-ways  of  the  world. 
On  the  contrary,  it  had  its  visible  pres 
ence  in  a  well-to-do  eastern  centre,  and 
was  the  largest  and  most  flourishing  of 


SHE  DISCUSSES   THE     SITUATION.  9 

the  many  denominations  represented  in 
our  town.  We  had  a  fair  proportion  of 
the  monied  members  of  society ;  several 
bankers,  half  a  dozen  merchants,  more 
than  that  number  of  grocers ;  and  a  long 
list  belonging  to  that  large  and  well- 
to-do  class  of  people,  known  in  aristo 
cratic  circles  as  the  middle  classes  — 
whatever  that  term  may  mean.  Nobody 
knew  why  we  allowed  that  church  debt 
to  accumulate  and  swallow  its  hundreds 
in  interest  year  by  year.  Can  anybody 
tell  why  ninety-nine  churches  out  of  a 
hundred  allow  themselves  to  do  that 
same  thing  ? 

There    were  those  in  our  congregation 
who  shrewdly    suspected    that   it   was  for 


10  MISS   PKISCILLA    HUNTER. 

convenience.  It  certainly  was  the  most 
common  thing  in  the  world  for  certain 
parties  when  appealed  to  for  contributions 
in  aid  of  any  object  under  the  sun, 
whether  foreign  or  home  missions,  church 
erection,  church  extension,  ministerial 
relief,  or  food  and  clothing  for  the  grass 
hopper  regions  of  the  west,  to  fall  back 
solemnly  and  hopelessly  into  the  arms 
of  that  church  debt,  and  declare  that 
people  should  be  just,  before  they  are 
generous,  and  that  honesty  should  come 
before  benevolence,  and  all  those  solemn 
and  truthful  and  interesting  sentences 
which  people  are  apt  to  quote  when  they 
don't  want  to  give  you  any  money. 
What  is  to  be  done  with  people,  who 


SHE  DISCUSSES   THE    SITUATION.  11 

in  the  face  of  the  most  earnest  appeal 
that  can  be  made  for  some  object  dear 
to  the  Christian  heart,  stoically  declare 
to  you  that  the  debt  ought  to  be  paid  ? 
That  it  is  high  time  the  church  set  it 
self  to  work,  and  sacrificed  and  strained 
every  nerve  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  that  end.  This  is  all  true ;  they  mean 
it,  and  you  agree  with  them  —  the  ques 
tion  is,  why  don't  you  and  they  set  to 
work  and  do  it,  instead  of  hugging  the 
thing  to  talk  about  ?  Who  stands  ready 
to  answer  ? 

I  frankly  confess  to  you  that  the  debt 
on  our  church  became  our  torment,  our 
thorn  in  the  flesh;  it  was  everywhere 


12  MISS   PEISCILLA   HUNTER. 

present,   popping   up   its   hydra   head    on 
every   conceivable    occasion. 

We  needed  new  hymn  books,  but  there 
was  that  debt  —  how  could  a  church 
hope  to  prosper  that  bought  new  hymn 
books,  instead  of  paying  its  debts?  We 
needed  new  library  books,  our  Sabbath- 
school  was  running  behind  on  this  very 
account,  but  think  of  the  enormity  of 
the  sin  of  trying  to  raise  money  for 
library  books  when  that  five  thousand 
dollar  debt  was  hanging  its  mill  stone 
about  our  necks !  We  wanted  to  re- 
carpet  our  church  and  refurnish  our  pulpit 
and  the  seats  needed  upholstering,  and 
the  parsonage  kitchen  needed  a  new  sink, 
and  drain,  and  pump,  and  the  parson-  . 


SHE   DISCUSSES   THE    SITUATION.  13 

age  grounds  needed  a  new  fence;  the 
old  one  had  been  a  source  of  humilia 
tion  to  us  for  years ;  but  who  had  the 
courage  to  talk  about  perpetrating  such 
deeds  of  darkness  as  the  getting  and 
doing  of  all  these  things  when  that  debt 
remained  unpaid? 

By  this  time  I  hope  you  perceive  that 
our  church  debt  was  an  intolerable  nui 
sance,  and  yet  we  clung  to  it. 

Well,  all  this  is  a  digression  —  I  was 
going  to  tell  you  about  Miss  Priscilla 
Hunter — how  on  a  certain  sunny  morn 
ing  not  many  years  ago,  the  wife  of  one 
of  our  deacons  went  with  the  wife  of 
one  of  our  doctors  to  call  on  her;  their 
object  being  to  see  about  some  pants 


14  MISS   PBISCILLA   HUNTEB. 

for  the  five  -  year  -  old  deacon  and  the 
six-year-old  doctor.  Miss  Priscilla,  you 
must  understand,  was  a  tailoress. 

"  I  like  your  work  better  than  the 
tailor's,"  said  the  doctor's  wife.  "  I  can 
never  get  a  tailor  to  make  things  look 
cunning  and  childish ;  they  always  turn 
out  work  that  is  fit  only  for  great  rough 
boys."  Of  course  you  do  not  need  to 
be  told  that  her  boy  was  not  a  great 
rough  one,  but  on  the  contrary  was  the 
most  superior  boy  that  ever  lived.  Be 
it  known  also  in  passing,  that  Miss 
Priscilla's  work  was  worthy  of  being  liked 
by  anybody,  not  a  garment  ever  went  from 
her  careful  hand  until  it  was  as  neat 
and  precise  in  all  its  details  as  skill  and 


SHE  DISCUSSES  THE  SITUATION.  15 

deftness  could  make  it.  From  pants,  the 
talk  drifted  to  church  matters,  whither 
Miss  Priscilla's  talk  was  sooner  or  later 
as  sure  to  turn  as  the  needle  turns  to 
the  pole.  They  discussed  the  condition 
of  the  carpets,  and  the  holes  that  were 
showing  in  the  cushions,  and  the  need 
there  was  of  putting  in  a  furnace  before 
another  winter  —  and  they  told  how  the 
children  said  they  had  read  every  old  book 
in  that  library  a  dozen  times  at  the  very 
least.  Then  their  sympathies  reached 
the  parsonage,  and  they  told  each  other 
how  dreadful  that  rickety  fence  did  look 
and  how  ashamed  they  were  of  it  the 
last  time  Gov.  Parker  was  in  town  and 
called  there ;  and  the  doctor's  wife  told 


16  MISS   PEISCILLA   HUNTER. 

how  the  doctor  had  said  again  and  again 
that  it  was  actually  a  tempting  of  Prov 
idence  for  the  parsonage  grounds  not 
to  have  better  drainage,  and  the  talk  all 
ended,  as  it  always  did,  with  the  woe 
begone  murmur:  "  Oh,  if  we  were  only 
out  of  debt,  we  might  set  about  some 
of  these  things  right  away;  but  as  it 
is  — "  and  then  there  followed  an  inde 
scribable,  thrice-echoed,  long-drawn-out 
sigh. 

I  suppose  if  that  sentence  had  been 
dolefully  whined  out  once,  it  had  been 
five  hundred  times,  by  the  different  mem 
bers  of  our  church  during  the  years  in 
which  we  had  been  victims  to  that  debt. 

After  this   there  was  silence  for  several 


Presently  she  burst  forth. —  Page  19. 


SHE  DISCUSSES  THE   SITUATION.  19 

minutes.  Miss  Priscilla  sewed  away  hard, 
snipping  off  her  thread  from  time  to 
time  with  an  energetic  whisk  of  her 
great,  shining  shears,  pursing  up  her  thin 
mouth  in  a  way  that  told  of  a  great  many 
things  which  she  would  like  to  say,  and 
of  some  which  she  would  say,  before  she 
was  much  older. 

Presently  she  burst  forth :  "  Now  look 
here,  Mis'.  Baker,  I'm  tired  of  that  kind 
of  talk ;  my  ears  have  ached  for  years 
with  hearing  so  much  of  it,  and  I've  just 
made  up  my  mind  it  was  time  that  debt 
was  paid.  It  has  hung  over  us,  and 
whined  and  groaned  and  howled  at  us, 
long  enough.  There  never  was  anything 
in  our  church  that  Satan  liked  so  well  as 


20  MISS   PRISCILLA    HUNTER. 

that  abominable  debt;  and  it's  my  opin 
ion  that  he  has  been  tickled  with  it  as 
long  as  is  good  for  him.  Not  a  thing 
do  we  try  to  do  from  sending  Bibles  to 
the  heathen,  to  mending  our  rickety  par 
sonage  fence,  but  he  swoops  down  on  ils 
and  gets  off  a  lot  of  what  passes  for 
pious  groaning,  about  that  debt !  It's  all 
Satan  from  beginning  to  end,  and  it  is 
time  it  was  stopped ;  now  what  I  say 
is,  let's  pay  the  debt  without  any  more 
fuss  about  it." 

"  For  pity's  sake !  "  and  "  why,  dear  me !  " 
murmured  the  deacon's  wife  and  the  doc 
tor's  wife  in  a  breath,  according  to  their 
several  natures ;  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Baker 
added:  "/  wish  with  all  my  heart  it  might 


SHE  DISCUSSES   THE    SITUATION.  21 

be  paid,  I  am  sure ;  I'd  be  willing  to 
sacrifice  a  great  deal  —  though  mercy 
knows  I  don't  know  what  to  sacrifice 
more  than  I'm  doing  —  but  I  don't  see 
any  prospect  of  its  ever  being  paid. 
For  my  part  I  am  clear  discouraged." 

"  Well  now,  that's  no  kind  of  way  to 
talk ;  you've  no  right  to  be  discouraged ; 
it's  the  Lord's  church  I  reckon  almost 
as  much  as  it's  ours,  and  he  don't  want 
to  see  it  disgraced  with  a  debt  any  more 
than  we  do,  to  say  the  least.  My  prop 
osition  is  to  just  put  our  shoulders  to 
the  wheel  and  lift  it,  and  say  no  more 
about  it." 

"  Priscilla  Hunter  1"  almost  screamed 
Mrs.  Deacon  Jones;  "how  is  it  going  to 


22  MISS  PRISCILLA  HUNTER. 

be  done  ?  Now,  that  is  what  I'd  like  to 
know?  Why,  we've  strained  every  nerve, 
and  lifted  and  lifted,  and  all  we've  been 
able  to  do  is  just  to  pay  the  interest, 
and  sometimes,  you  know  as  well  as  I 
do,  that  we  have  had  to  borrow  money 
to  do  that. 

"  If  our  rich  men  would  just  take  hold 
of  it  and  give  as  they  ought  to  give,  it 
could  all  be  wiped  out  in  a  day;  but  I 
have  lost  all  hope  in  that  direction. " 

This  from  Mrs.  Dr.  Baker. 

Then  Priscilla: 

"  Oh,  now,  Mis'  Baker,  don't  you  go  to 
making  yourself  believe  that  thafs  pious 
talk.  That's  just  Satan  hanging  round, 
and  nothing  else.  Not  but  what  he 


SHE  DISCUSSES   THE    SITUATION.  23 

hangs  around  the  rich  men  and  whines 
out  his  say;  and  I've  no  kind  of  doubt 
he  says  to  them  if  the  sewing-girls  and 
tailoresses,  and  hod-carriers  and  cobblers, 
would  all  just  come  up  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  this  debt,  no  doubt  we  could 
lift  it.  I  tell  you  it's  one  of  his  dodges 
to  hang  around  people  and  whine  out, 
if  Mr.  Somebody  Else  and  his  wife  and 
children  would  only  do  their  duty  we 
could  swim  through.  Now  I  ain't  one  to 
say  that  the  rich  men  couldn't  pay  the 
debt  in  our  church  if  they  were  a  mind 
to  —  for  I  believe  they  could  and  what 
is  more  I  know  they  could  —  but  they 
don't  do  it,  and  as  far  as  I  can  see  they 
don't  mean  to ;  and  Satan  he  don't  mean 


24  MISS  PBISCILLA   HUNTER. 

they  shall,  and  he  wants  to  keep  me  busy 
all  the  time,  groaning  over  their  failings. 
Now  for  my  part  I'm  tired  of  his  com 
pany.  I've  shook  him  off;  he  won't 
groan  to  me  on  that  subject  again  in  a 
hurry.  I  say  we  give  him  the  cold  shoul 
der  and  just  make  an  end  of  this  thing." 

How  fast  Miss  Priscilla  could  sew! 
her  fingers  fairly  flew  over  the  seam, 
and  her  keen  grey  eyes  flashed  along 
the  stitches  like  soldier's  bayonets.  The 
two  callers  looked  at  her  in  dumb  amaze- 
ment;  the  doctor's  wife  even  wondering 
whether  "  much  stitching  might  not  have 
made  her  mad." 

As  for  Mrs.  Deacon  Jones,  she  looked 
thoughtful. 


SHE    DISCUSSES    THE    SITUATION.  25 

"  Land  alive  !  "  she  said.  "  How  are 
we  to  do  it?  We've  had  suppers,  and 
festivals,  and  pound-parties,  and  all  those 
things,  till  people  are  sick  of  their  very 
names." 

"  Oh,  suppers ! "  said  Miss  Priscilla, 
with  a  sniff  of  her  long,  keen  nose. 
"  Don't  for  pity's  sake  let  me  hear  any 
thing  about  them  !  They're  nice  enough 
in  their  way,  for  stomachs,  and  sociala- 
bility,  and  all  that.  I  haven't  got  a  word 
to  say  against  'em.  But  for  paying  a 
debt  —  humph !  You  set  to  work  and 
bake  a  lot  of  cake,  and  use  up  butter 
and  eggs,  and  sugar  and  cream  enough 
to  make  a  dollar's  worth  at  the  very  least, 
and  then  you  carry  it  down  to  the  church 


26  MISS  PEISCILLA   HUNTER. 

and  your  husband  comes  and  eats  a  piece 
of  it,  and  a  piece  of  turkey  that  somebody 
else  has  brought — and  that  cost  two  dol 
lars —  and  a  piece  of  chicken,  and  a  slice 
of  bread,  and  another  slice  of  another  kind 
of  cake  that  somebody  else  has  brought,  and 
a  slice  of  everything  under  the  sun  ;  and 
his  stomach  feels  better  after  it  all  maybe 
—  only  I  doubt  it  —  but  as  for  the  money 
part,  why  he  pays  fifty  cents  for  his  sup 
per  and  it  goes  into  the  treasury ;  and 
after  the  broken  dishes  are  paid  for  and 
the  things  you  had  to  buy  to  piece  out 
with  are  paid  for,  and  a  dozen  and  one 
things  that  nobody  ever  thought  of  are 
paid  for,  why,  what's  left  of  it  goes  towards 
paying  the  debt.  That's  social  now,  I 


\ 


SHE  DISCUSSES  THE    SITUATION.  27 

dare  say,  but  it  isn't  economical,  and 
/  don't  expect  to  get  out  of  debt  by 
a  hundred  years  of  such  management 
as  that.  There's  only  one  way  that's 
worse,  and  I'm  thankful  to  remember 
that  our  church  has  never  sunk  so  low 
as  to  try  it.  They  have  been  doing  it  up 
in  Circleville  where  I  was  sewing  for  a 
month.  They  had  a  debt  of  three  hun 
dred  dollars,  or  at  least  they  were  behind 
that  much;  and  how  do  they  pay  it? 
You'd  never  guess  in  the  world.  They 
got  together  and  talked  it  up,  and 
planned  about  what  hard  times  it  was, 
and  how  they  ought  to  get  out  of  debt 
now>  or  else  they  would  -surely  be  going 
deeper  and  deeper  all  the  time,  and 


28  MISS   PRISCILLA    HUNTER. 

finally  they  agreed  to  make  a  great  sac 
rifice,  and  pay  that  debt.  So  they  sent 
a  committee  to  the  minister : 

" '  Now  these  are  hard  times  you  know,' 
says  the  committee  looking  wise,  '  and 
it  becomes  those  in  Zion  to  be  willing 
to  sacrifice  and  suffer  if  need  be  for  the 
cause.  We  have  made  up  our  minds 
that  this  debt  ought  to  be  paid,  and  we 
have  come  to  you  —  the  watchman  upon 
the  walls  —  as  a  proper  person  to  set 
the  example.' 

"  And  then  they  proceed  to  show  him 
how. 

" '  You  see  there  is  a  debt  of  about 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  your  salary 
is  fifteen  hundred.  Now  these  are  very 


Now  these  are  very  hard  times." —  Page  28. 


SHE   DISCUSSES   THE  SITUATION.  31 

hard  times,  and  a  man  ought  to  be  will 
ing  to  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  cause 
you  know,  and  we  think  by  economy  you 
could  live  on  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and 
then  we  would  be  out  of  debt  —  don't  you 
see  —  and  what  a  grand  and  glorious  day 
that  will  be!' 

"  Then  they  got  eloquent  and  pathetic 
over  that  grand  and  glorious  day !  I  sat 
and  listened  to  all  the  talk  about  sacri 
fice  and  setting  example,  and  at  last  I 
boiled  over.  It  was  none  of  my  business, 
but  I  couldn't  help  it. 

"  '  Urn  ! '  says  I.  '  Live  and  learn ;  now 
that's  a  new  idea.  Were  in  debt,  too,  but 
we  never  thought  of  any  such  plan.  I'll 
go  home  and  tell  our  folks  about  it, 


32  MISS   PKISCILLA   HUNTEK. 

and  see  if  we  can  manage  in  some  such 
way.  Let  me  see,  it  is  done  by  sacrific 
ing ;  that  is,  the  minister  sacrifices  enough 
salary  to  pay  it  all  up,  and  you  sacrifice 
him.  That's  the  way,  isn't  it  ? ' 

"  I  tell  you  I  was  mad.  Mr.  Grimes 
looked  pretty  black  over  what  I  said,  and 
says  he : 

" '  A  minister  certainly  ought  to  be 
willing  to  set  an  example  of  sacrifice  in 
these  hard  times.' 

" '  Of  course '  says  I.  *  But  then  I 
always  thought  an  example  was  some 
thing  for  folks  to  follow;  now  unless 
you  have  all  pitched  in  and  concluded 
to  sacrifice  him  for  your  part  of  the 
work,  I  don't  see  how  you  have  helped  ; 


SHE  DISCUSSES  THE   SITUATION.  33 

and  even  then,  that  doesn't  seem  ex 
actly  following  an  example;  it  strikes 
me  you  are  doing  the  leading  off.  I 
see  through  what  the  example  is,  says 
I.  If  you  talked  that  stuff  to  your  pas 
tor,  and  he  didn't  ask  you  mildly,  to  step 
out  of  his  house  and  let  him  lock  the 
front  door,  why  you've  got  an  example 
of  Christian  forbearance  to  follow  all  the 
days  of  your  life.  I  tell  you  it  is  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  do  other 
folk's  sacrificing  for  'em.  I'd  just  as 
soon  give  Mrs.  Merchant's  new  dress 
for  the  church  as  not,  but  mine  is 
another  matter  —  always  provided  I  had 
a  new  one  to  give,  which  I  never  do 


34  MISS   PRISCILLA   HUNTER. 

have.  It's  a  good  deal  easier  for  me  to 
talk  about  giving  it,  on  that  account.'" 

When  the  Mrs.  Doctor  and  the  Mrs. 
Deacon  had  had  their  laugh  out  over 
this  remarkable  story,  the  latter  said : 

"  Well,  as  you  say,  we'll  never  descend 
to  any  such  performance,  I  do  hope.  But 
I'm  sure  I  don't  see  what  we  are  to  do." 

"  I  do  then,"  said  Miss  Priscilla,  sewing 
away  faster  than  ever.  "  And  I  can  show 
you,  if  you'll  set  to  work  and  do  it.  You'll 
have  a  call  from  me  about  this  very 
thing  before  the  week  is  out.  I  want 
you  both  to  go  home  and  think  of  what 
you  have  said  a  hundred  times,  and  re 
peated  in  my  shop  this  very  morning; 
that  you  were  willing  to  sacrifice,  if  the 


SHE  DISCUSSES   THE    SITUATION.  35 

debt  could  only  be  paid.  I  want  you  to 
go  down  on  your  knees  and  ask  the 
Lord  what  that  word  means  ;  and  mind 
I  warn  you,  don't  let  Satan  get  your 
mind  wandering  off  to  the  sacrificing  of 
Mr.  Merchant  or  Mr.  Ritchie,  or  any 
other  of  our  rich  men.  That's  easy. 
If  I've  paid  the  church  debt  for  'em 
once,  I  have  a  hundred  times ;  but  you 
see  neither  of  'em  being  our  minister, 
we  can't  go  up  to  'em  and  demand  a 
sacrifice,  so  we  have  our  planning  for 
nothing. 

"  What  I've  made  up  my  mind  to  do 
is  just  to  tend  to  my  own  self  —  get 
up  my  own  sacrifices,  or  ask  the  Lord 
to  get  'em  up  for  me  —  make  'em  so 


36  MISS  PEISCILLA  HUNTER. 

plain  that  if  I  shut  my  eyes  I'll  stumble 
over  'em.  Now  that's  what  I  want  you 
to  do ;  and  then,  when  your  mind  is  made 
up,  all  I  ask  of  you  is  to  put  it  on  paper 
for  me,  and  let  me  carry  it  around  in 
my  pocket  awhile  as  an  evidence  of 
what  the  Lord  has  showed  to  you.  I 
see  what  I  can  do;  anyhow  I  see  one 
place  plain  enough;  my  time  is  my  bread 
and  butter,  and  my  bread  and  butter 
are  all  I've  got  in  this  world ;  if  I  give 
them,  it  stands  to  reason  that  I  can't 
do  much  more.  I've  made  up  my  mind 
to  give  them  —  not  but  what  I  shall  con 
trive  to  throw  an  odd  dime  or  two  into 
the  bargain  now  and  then." 


CHAPTER  II. 

SHE    THROWS    NEW    LIGHT   ON    TAXATION. 


j||f  HAT  was  the  way  it  began.  No, 
I  mistake,  it  began  back  of  that; 
one  night  with  Priscilla  Hunter  on  her 
knees,  her  soul  heavy  within  her  be 
cause  of  the  disgrace  lying  heavy  on  our 
church ;  she  prayed  and  then  she  crept 
back  into  bed,  and  tossed,  and  tumbled, 
and  thought,  and  finally  flung  aside  the 

37 


38  MISS  PBISCILLA   HUNTER. 

clothes  and  got  on  her  knees  again 
seeking  for  light ;  and  at  last  with  a 
smile  on  her  face  as  of  one  who  had 
received  light,  smoothed  her  small,  rum 
pled  pillow,  and  laid  her  grey  head  on 
it  and  went  quietly  to  sleep  ;  since 
which  time  her  plans  had  been  maturing. 
Behold  her  one  morning,  instead  of 
being  seated  at  her  accustomed  corner 
by  that  little  east  window,  with  her  lap- 
board  standing  up  beside  her,  and  her 
bit  of  wax,  and  her  black  thread,  and 
grey  thread,  and  gleaming  shears  on  a 
chair  before  her,  and  the  great  pressing- 
goose  heating  itself  on  the  coals  in  her 
bit  of  a  kitchen  —  behold  her  with  her 
neat  black  bonnet,  and  her  neat  black 


SHE  THROWS  NEW  LIGHT  ON   TAXATION.    39 

shawl,  and  her  neat  black  cotton  gloves 
all  donned,  arrayed  for  walking;  and  in 
her  window  carefully  printed  out  in  let 


ters  so  large  and  smooth  that  it  had 
taken  her  half  the  afternoon  before  to 
accomplish  them,  this  sentence :  "  Gone 


40  MISS    PEISCILLA  HUNTER. 

on  a  three  weeks'  vacation."  Yet  she 
didn't  expect  to  leave  the  town,  it  was 
only  her  way  of  saying: 

"You  needn't  expect  a  stitch  of  work 
from  me  for  the  next  three  weeks,  and 
that's  all  there  is  about  it." 

Ten  minutes  after,  she  had  locked  her 
door  and  clamped  down  the  steep  steps. 
She  stood  in  Mr.  Merchant's  presence  in 
the  First  National  Bank  of  our  city. 

"  Good  morning,"  she  said,  and  then 
she  dashed  into  her  subject  without  hes 
itation  or  circumlocution.  "  Mr.  Mer 
chant  we  have  made  up  our  minds  to 
pay  that  church  debt;  it  has  been  on 
our  hands  long  enough,  and  we  are 
sick  of  it ;  the  money  is  all  to  be  raised 


SHE  THROWS  NEW  LIGHT  ON  TAXATION.   41 

now  without  fail,  in  six  months  time. 
We  want  you  to  head  the  subscription; 
what  will  you  give  ?  " 

"Well,  really,"  said  Mr.  Merchant, 
somewhat  taken  aback  by  this  abrupt 
announcement,  and  the  peculiar  manner 
of  its  wording. 

"I'm  sure  I'm  wonderfully  glad  that 
the  debt  is  to  be  paid  at  last." 

"  Of  course  you  are ;  every  one  in  his 
senses  is;  the  question  is,  how  much  are 
you  going  to  help  ?  " 

"  Well,  as  to  that,  how  many  times 
have  I  subscribed  for  that  very  thing; 
and  how  much  money  do  you  suppose 
I  have  sunken  in  paying  that  debt  ? " 

"  Not     a    cent,  "     said     Miss     Priscilla 


42  MISS   PKISCILLA  HHNTEE. 

firmly.  "  Never  a  cent ;  you've  given  a 
good  deal  I  suppose  in  the  last  dozen 
years  to  some  idiot  who  came  around 
trying  to  see  how  much  money  he  could 
raise  towards  paying  it.  It  has  always 
gone  towards  paying  it,  mind  you,  and 
never  to  pay  it.  Women  don't  do  bus 
iness  in  that  way;  we  are  sick  of  for 
ever  going  towards  a  thing  and  never 
reaching  it.  We've  just  walked  up  to 
this  and  taken  it  by  the  throat ;  now 
how  much  are  you  willing  to  give? 
Not  to  see  it  choked  a  little,  mind  you, 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  coming  to  life 
again,  but  killed  outright? 

"  Do  you  mean,"  asked   Mr.  Merchant, 
greatly     amused,    "  that    unless  you    raise 


SHE  THROWS   NEW  LIGHT  ON  TAXATION.    43 

the  whole  amount  I  am  not  to  be 
called  on  to  pay  my  subscription  ? " 

"  Well,  if  you  like  that  namby-pamby 
way  of  putting  it,  you  can  have  it  so; 
but  I  won't  take  any  unfair  advantage 
of  you.  I'll  say  outright  in  plain  Eng 
lish,  that  whatever  you  put  down  will 
be  called  for ;  and  you  won't  be  asked 
to  give  anything  again  as  long  as  you 
live  for  this  debt,  because  it  is  going 
to  be  paid.  Now,  how  much  shall  it  be?" 

"  Three  hundred  dollars  ? "  said  Mr. 
Merchant,  at  random. 

"  All  right ;  put  it  down  in  black 
and  white  in  this  book.  If  I  was  your 
conscience,  I  should  say  you  ought  to 
make  it  five  hundred  at  least,  but  see- 


44  MISS  PKISCILLA    HUNTEE. 

ing  I'm  not,  I'll  let  that  part  alone 
and  take  the  three  hundred  and  be  on 
my  way.  Make  it  payable  six  months 
from  to-day,  if  you  please,  at  ten  o'clock 
A.  M." 

And  in  less  time  than  it  takes  me 
to  tell  it,  Miss  Priscilla  had  received 
back  her  little  red-covered  book  whipped 
it  into  her  pocket,  made  her  best  bow 
to  the  amused  Mr.  Merchant,  and  was  off. 

"  I  might  as  well  made  it  a  thousand 
to  encourage  her,"  he  said,  looking  after 
her  and  laughing.  "  It  will  never  be 
collected ;  people  are  about  tired  of  calls 
for  the  payment  of  that  debt." 

Just  what  Mr.  Merchant  thought  was 
going  to  become  of  the  debt  in  that 


SHE  THKOWS  NEW  LIGHT  ON   TAXATION.   45 

case,  he  did  not  state.  On  went  Miss 
Priscilla  on  her  self-appointed  task.  Her 
next  call  was  at  the  house  of  one  of 
the  merchant  princes  of  their  church, 
Mr.  Hoardwell.  Was  there  a  faint  sar 
casm  intended  by  his  ancestors  in  forc 
ing  that  name  on  him  ?  Certainly  if 
there  was  any  one  thing  at  which  this 
man  was  an  adept,  it  was  the  art  of 
hoarding ;  that  he  certainly  could  do  well. 
He  put  on  his  longest  face  the  minute 
that  Miss  Priscilla  told  her  errand,  which 
she  did  in  as  rapid  and  straightforward 
a  way  as  she  had  used  before. 

"Well,  now,  Miss  Hunter,  I  appreciate 
your  errand,  and  the  motive  which 
prompts  you." 


46  MISS   PKISCILLA   HUNTER. 

"  Never  mind  about  the  motive,  or 
the  appreciation  Mr.  Hoardwell,  it  is 
the  check  Fm  after.  There  are  a  great 
many  people  to  call  on,  you  know.  I 
mean  to  give  every  man,  woman  and 
child  a  chance ;  it  is  the  last  time." 

A  faint  smile  illumined  his  sallow  face. 

"  If  one  could  only  have  your  sanguine 
spirit,  Miss  Hunter.  The  debt  ought  to 
be  paid ;  there  is  no  question  about  that 
to  my  mind;  it  is  a  disgrace  to  our  so 
ciety  that  it  isn't;  I  have  said  so  a 
great  many  times." 

"  I  know  it ;  I've  heard  you  say  it  in 
prayer-meeting  twenty  times  at  the  very 
lowest,  I  should  think ;  so  there's  no 
need  of  saying  it  again.  Now's  your 


SHE   THROWS   NEW  LIGHT  ON   TAXATION.   47 

chance  to  prove  that  you  think  so ;  there 
is  nothing  like  proving  sums,  you  know. 
Come,  how  much  ?  " 

"  Well,  really,  I  am  not  in  circum 
stances  to  give  very  liberally  at  this 
time ;  I  have  had  heavy  losses,  and  my 
taxes  were  never  greater  than  they  are 
this  year;  almost  any  year  since  I  have 
been  in  business  I  could  do  better  than 
I  can  to-day." 

"  That's  a  pity ;  I  wish  you  had  done 
twice  as  much  then  five  years  ago  as 
you  are  going  to  do  to-day;  but  it  is 
never  too  late  to  begin.  What  shall 
it  be?" 

"  You  quiet  people,  Miss  Hunter,  who 
sit  in  your  pleasant  rooms  outside  of 


48  MISS    PEISCILLA   HUNTER. 

the  bustle  and  fret  of  business  have 
very  little  idea  .  of  the  risks  and  losses ; 
you  always  suppose  us  to  be  made  of 
money." 

"  You  have  a  good  deal  more  risk 
of  loss  than  I  do,  Mr.  Hoardwell,  that's 
a  fact;  I  appreciate  it.  Did  you  ever 
hear  the  story  of  the  man  who  heard 
that  a  certain  bank  had  failed,  and  felt 
uneasy  till  he  hurried  home  to  see 
whether  he  had  any  money  of  theirs, 
but  he  found  he  hadn't  a  dollar  on 
that  bank  or  any  other,  and  then  he 
felt  safe.  I'm  exactly  in  his  circum 
stances  ;  no  risk  of  my  houses  burning 
down,  or  a  thief  stealing  my  bonds.  I'm 
as  safe  about  all  them  things  as  though 


SHE  THROWS   NEW  LIGHT  ON  TAXATION.   49 

I  was  the  only  being  on  earth.  And 
as  for  taxes,  well,  they  don't  trouble  me 
either ;  never  did." 

"  That  is  it,  Miss  Hunter ;  and  you 
see  the  fact  is,  people  who  don't  have 
those  drains  on  their  purse  have  no 
idea  what  heavy  ones  they  are.  There's 
that  one  building  of  mine  across  the 
way,  I  don't  believe  you  could  imagine 
what  it  has  cost  me  for  one  thing  and 
another  this  past  year." 

"  I  don't  suppose  I  could,"  said  Miss 
Hunter,  with  a  solemn  face ;  "  it  is  a 
good  big  building,  I  should  say  it  must 
have  cost  a  great  deal.  I  declare,  now 
you  speak  of  it,  it  doesn't  seem  hardly 
fair  that  you  should  have  all  the  tax- 


50  MISS    PRISCILLA  HUNTER. 

paying  to  do,  and  so  many  of  us  go  free 
from  such  trials.  I  wonder  a  different 
arrangement  isn't  made ;  I  dare  say  no 
body  has  thought  of  it ;  but  I  don't 
believe  in  that  kind  of  thing;  I  think 
we  ought  to  bear  one  another's  burdens. 
I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do,  Mr.  Hoard- 
well.  You  make  that  property  over  to 
the  church,  give  them  a  fair  right  and 
title  to  it  you  know,  and  we'll  engage 
to  pay  all  the  taxes  on  it  from  this  time 
forth;  and  what  is  more,  you  needn't 
pay  a  cent  towards  raising  this  debt ! " 
"  I  should  think  not ! "  exclaimed  Mr. 
Hoardwell,  with  a  laugh  and  a  signifi 
cant  sniff.  "  Why  my  dear  woman,  that 


SHE  THROWS   NEW  LIGHT   ON  TAXATION.    51 

property  is    very  valuable;    it    would   pay 
the  debt  three   times  over." 

"  That's  neither  here  nor  there,  you 
know.  What  you  were  complaining  of 
was  the  taxes  on  it,  and  if  I  under 
stood  what  you  were  driving  at,  it  was 
because  of  those  taxes  and  some  others, 
that  you  couldn't  make  as  large  a  contri 
bution  as  you  wanted  to.  Now  if  it  really 
is  a  burden,  and  you  feel  the  weight  of 
it,  why  not  get  rid  of  it,  and  at  the 
same  time  do  a  good  deed  to  the 
church ;  we  are  willing  to  help  you  in 
this  thing ;  I  promise  you  that  any  more 
tax,  or  any  more  repairs  on  that  build 
ing  is  something  that  you  needn't  con- 


52  MISS  PRISCILLA  HUNTER. 

cern  yourself  with  for  the  next  hundred 
years,  if  you  will  just  give  us  a  deed 
of  it." 

"  Ha  !  ha ! "  laughed  Mr.  Hoardwell 
"You  ladies  like  your  little  jokes  I  see; 
that  is  very  well  put,  I  declare." 

"Jokes!  I  was  never  more  in  earnest 
in  my  life;  why  not?  If  it  isrit  a 
burden  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand  it  is  so 
much  wealth,  and  you  can  afford  to 
pay  heavy  taxes  on  it  for.  the  sake  of 
the  income  which  it  brings  you,  then 
what  in  the  name  of  common  sense  did 
you  mean  ?  " 

Mr.  Hoardwell  had  certainly  never 
looked  at  the  matter  in  just  that  light 
before;  and  whatever  other  follies  he 


"Sony  to  take  so  much  of  your  time." — Page  55. 


SHE   THROWS  NEW  LIGHT  ON  TAXATION.   55 

was  guilty  of,  it  was  a  long  time  after 
that,  before  he  excused  himself  from  be 
nevolence  on  the  plea  of  heavy  taxes. 
It  took  more  talk,  and  a  great  deal  of 
it,  and  even  then  I  fear  that  Miss 
Priscilla  would  have  walked  away  with 
out  her  contribution  but  for  unfailing 
good-nature  and  unselfishness. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  take  so  much  of 
your  time,"  said  Mr.  Hoardwell,  looking 
at  his  watch  and  fingering  his  hat. 
"  Really  how  late  it  is  getting."  He  un 
derstood  all  those  little  gentlemanly  de 
vices  for  getting  rid  of  a  troublesome 
caller  as  well  as  a  gentleman  could. 
"  But  I  must  say  I  don't  feel  this  morn 
ing,  like  — 


56  MISS   PRISCELLA    HUNTER. 

"  Oh,  no  trouble  in  life,"  interrupted 
Miss  Priscilla,  with  good-humored  alacrity: 

"  If  you  don't  feel  ready  to  decide 
this  morning  why  I  can  call  again  just 
as  well  as  not.  I've  set  out  to  do  this 
thing,  and  I  mean  to  do  it ;  there  are 
a  good  many  to  call  on.  I  mean  to 
give  every  man,  woman  and  child,  a 
chance,  and  I'll  have  to  pass  here 
pretty  often,  so  I  can  call  as  well  as 
not.  I'll  just  drop  in  every  morning 
as  I  pass  by,  and  whenever  you  have 
made  up  your  mind,  you  can  just  say 
the  word,  and  in  that  way  it  won't 
take  much  of  your  time." 

How  many  such  calls  do  you  think 
even  Mr  Hoardwell  stood?  Let  me 


SHE  THROWS   NEW  LIGHT  ON   TAXATION.   57 

tell  you;  just  five!  Absolutely  it  took 
him  five  days  to  make  up  his  mind 
that  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  giving 
something.  He  couldn't  comfort  himself 
in  the  way  that  Mr.  Merchant  had; 
for  he  feared  there  was  a  possibility 
that  sometime,  away  in  the  dim,  distant 
future,  he  might  be  called  upon  to  re 
deem  his  pledge. 

"  There  !  "  said  Miss  Priscilla,  drawing 
a  long  sigh  of  relief  one  very  rainy 
morning  as  she  splashed  down  the  walk 
from  his  door  with  his  name  on  her 
list  for  one  hundred  dollars ;  "  if  I 
haven't  earned  that  money  then  I  never 
did  earn  any  in  my  life.  I've  a  great 
mind  to  scratch  out  his  name  and  put 


58  MISS    PKISCILLA  HUNTER. 

Priscilla  Hunter  there  in  its  place ;  for 
if  /didn't  give  it,  who  did?  It's  harder 
work  than  boys'  pants  at  seventy-five 
cents  a  pair;  but  I've  got  it." 


* 

CHAPTER  III. 

BEING  >LL  THINGS  TO  ALL  WOMEN. 


RAMP!  tramp!  how  many  miles 
did  Miss  Priscilla  walk  during 
that  three  weeks'  vacation  ?  She  didn't 
know,  and  so  her  list  grew,  she  didn't 
:are.  But  even  she  had  not  realized  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  which  she  had 
undertaken.  Once  she  sat  and  moral 

ized    about   it    in    the    darkness    of    her 
59 


60  MISS    PBISCILLA  HUNTER. 

room.  She  was  economizing  coal-oil, 
for  the  sake  of  the  church  debt  It 
was  a  chink  from  which  she  saw  that 
one  of  those  odd  dimes  could  drop ;  and 
such  chinks  were  few  in  her  life  of  toil 
and  pinch.  She  sat  there  alone,  by  a 
bit  of  a  fire,  for  the  autumn  days  were 
chill  and  frosty,  when  they  were  not 
damp  and  foggy,  in  the  extreme.  She 
had  made  some  curious  calls  that  day. 
"  I  don't  wonder,"  she  said,  thinking 
aloud,  according  to  her  fashion.  "  I 
don't  wonder  that  old  woman  said  it 
took  all  sorts  of  folks  to  make  a  world, 
and  for  her  part  she  was  glad  she 
wa'n't  one  of  'em.  Sensible  old  woman! 
If  one  only  needrit  be  '  one  of  'em.'  If  a 


BEING  ALL  THINGS   TO   ALL  WOMEN.         61 

body  could  climb  up  somewhere  on  a 
hill  and  look  down  on  all  these  humans, 
and  feel  herself  a  hundred  thousand 
miles  above  'em,  why  then,  a  body 
could  breathe  better.  I  wonder  now  if 
that  ain't  a  little  bit  like  what  heaven 
is — feeling,  in  a  good,  glad,  clean,  com 
fortable  sense,  without  a  speck  of  pride 
in  it;  that  you've  got  above  it  all  — all  the 
worry,  and  fuss,  and  pinches,  and  scrimps, 
and  stings,  and  bruises  and  meannesses, 
and  debts,  forever  and  ever !  But  then, 
dear  me !  the  widow  Dixon  will  get 
there  too.  Well,  that's  nice,  I'm  sure. 
It  is  a  blessed  thing  that  some  day  she 
will  get  her  soul  clean  out  of  that  little 
cramped-up  body  of  her's,  and  have 


62  MISS   PEISCILLA    HUNTEK. 

room  to  breathe.  How  she  will  look 
down  on  herself,  though !  the  part  of 
her  that  she  lived  down  here  in  the 
hollow!  Well,  for  the  matter  of  that, 
Priscilla  Hunter,  so  will  you.  Don't 
you  go  to  being  puffed  up. 

"  Pity's  sake !  if  you  weren't  going  to 
be  a  better  woman  by  ten  thousand 
times  when  you  get  to  heaven  than 
you  are  here,  why  heaven  would  be  an 
out  and  out  disappointment,  that's  all. 

"  And  there  will  be  no  such  thing  as 
that  hateful  word,  up  there,  bless  the 
Lord ;  haven't  I  his  own  word  for  it  ? 
Didn't  he  say  we  should  be  '  satisfied^.  " 

"  I  wonder  what  it  feels  like  to  be 
satisfied  ! 


BEING  ALL  THINGS   TO  ALL  WOMEN.         63 

"  There's  a  pair  of  shoes  gone  towards 
the  debt!  a  hole  clear  through  one  of 
'em,  and  a  grinning  place  in  the  other 
that  will  be  a  hole  long  before  I  have 
tramped  this  town  over  many  times 


A  sacrifice  to  the  cause. 

more.  Well  now,  Priscilla  Hunter,  what 
are  you  talking  about?  The  Lord  knows 
that  you  counted  the  cost,  and  then 
deliberately  gave  these  three  weeks,  shoes 
and  all  to  the  cause ;  I  don't  know  that 


64  MISS  PBISCILLA   HUNTER. 

it  makes  any  difference  to  you,  whether 
anybody  else  ever  knows  it  or  not.  You 
needn't  be  a  mite  afraid  about  the 
shoes,  either.  He  can  manage  to  have 
you  get  a  pair  of  shoes  I  guess,  when 
you  need  'em.  It  is  a  mercy  that  you 
haven't  got  that  to  worry  about." 

Miss  Priscilla's  interview  with  the  wid 
ow  Dixon,  which  lay  somewhat  heavily  on 
her  heart,  is  worthy  of  a  word  of  detail. 
The  widow  Dixon  belonged  to  that  class 
of  persons  who,  with  house,  and  gar 
den,  and  farm,  and  cattle,  and  barns 
well-stored,  and  with  a  fair  proportion 
of  this  world's  goods  converted  into  rail 
road  and  bank  stock,  yet  apparently 
firmly  expect  to  end  their  days  in  the 


BEING  ALL  THINGS   TO   ALL  WOMEN.         65 

poor-house,  or  at  least,  to  come  to  pov 
erty  !  Moreover,  the  widow  Dixon  knew 
what  it  was  to  understand  other  people's 
duties  for  them. 

"  It  is  a  burning  shame  that  they 
have  let  this  debt  hang  on  so ! "  she 
exclaimed,  waxing  into  the  excited  state 
the  minute  the  subject  was  mentioned. 
"  I've  said  it  a  hundred  times.  The 
church  needn't  ever  hope  to  prosper  so 
long  as  it  shirks  its  honest  debts  in 
the  kind  of  way  ours  has;  and  I  say 
it  is  a  sin  and  a  shame ! " 

"  So  it  is ! "  interrupted  Miss  Priscilla 
in  a  soothing  tone.  "  What  I  say  is,  let's 
pay  it  now,  and  be  done  with  it." 

"  Oh,  yes,  Miss   Hunter,  you  and  I  who 


66  MISS  PBISCILLA   HUNTER. 

have  nothing  to  pay  with,  can  talk  that 
way  till  the  next  century,  and  it  won't 
do  any  good.  I  say  let  those  who  are 
rolling  in  wealth — so  much  money  they 
don't  know  what  to  do  with  it  —  shoul 
der  the  burden  and  carry  it.  That's  the 
way  to  do  it." 

"  But  they  won't  shoulder  it,  Mis' 
Dixon.  I'm  willing  enough  to  have  'em 
use  their  shoulders,  and  I've  been  wait 
ing  for  their  shoulders  till  I'm  sick  and 
tired  of  it.  Now,  I'm  going  to  use  my 
own,  and  you  must  put  yours  against 
mine,  and  give  a  lift  with  the  rest." 

"Not  I.  I've  said  I  wouldn't  give  a 
cent  towards  that  debt,  and  I  don't  be 
lieve  I  will.  It  never  ought  to  have  been 


"Not  I."— Page  66. 


BEING  ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL   WOMEN.         69 

made  in  the  first  place.  A  church  run 
ning  in  debt !  I'm  never  in  debt,  and  I 
don't  run  around  the  town  coaxing  peo 
ple  to  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel 
and  help  me  pay  my  grocery  bill." 

"  Of  course  you  don't,  Mis'  Dixon,  and 

« 
you   are    not    going    to  begin    it  now,  at 

this  late  day.  When  your  grocery  bill 
comes  due,  you  just  put  your  hand  in 
your  pocket  and  bring  out  the  money, 
and  that's  exactly  what  I  want  you  to 
do  to-day.  This  is  your  bill  —  a  piece 
of  it  —  as  much  as  it  is  mine,  and  Mr. 
Merchant's  and  all  the  others.  There's 
no  benevolence  about  it,  nor  charity,  nor 
nothing  of  that  kind.  I  ain't  around 
begging  just  now;  I'm  good  at  that, 


70  MISS  PEISCILLA    HUNTER. 

too,  when  the  right  time  comes,  and  I 
mean  to  do  some  of  it  before  long,  but 
all  in  life  I'm  doing  now  is  just  pre 
senting  folks'  bills  and  asking  'em  to  pay 
their  debts ;  it's  all  mapped  out,  each 
one  his  and  her  share ;  some  of  'em 
won't  pay  their  share  to  be  sure,  and 
some  others  will  have  to  come  in  and 
help  pay  their  bills,  just  as  we  have  to 
help  pay  the  grocery  bills  for  the  town's 
poor,  but  you  don't  expect  me,  of  course, 
to  go  to  Deacon  Jones,  or  Mr.  Merchant 
and  beg  a  little  money  to  help  pay  your 
debt  with.  I  reckon  you're  too  honest 
a  woman  for  that.  You  see  it's  a  mere 
matter  of  business,  and  what  they  give 
towards  it  has  no  more  to  do  with  your 


BEING  ALL   THINGS  TO  ALL  WOMEN.         71 

share,  than  what  I  give  towards  paying 
my  grocer's  bill  has  to  do  with  you  pay 
ing  yours.  Don't  you  see  ? " 

"  No,  I  don't.  I  must  say  you  always 
could  make  white  look  black,  if  you 
wanted  to.  What  I  say  is,  I'm  too  poor 
to  give  anything  to  the  church  this  year; 
it  as  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  support 
my  family.  It  isn't  as  if  I  were  rich ; 
I'd  be  willing  if  I  had  the  money  that 
some  have,  to  pay  the  whole  debt  and 
be  done  with  it." 

"  I  wish  to  the  life  you  had  it  then ; 
just  to  shame  some  of  those  who  won't 
pay  their  share,  and  make  it  necessary 
for  somebody  to  go  begging  for  'em.  It'll 
come  to  that,  I  dare  say,  because  there's 


72  MISS    PRISCILLA  HTJNTEB. 

some  folks  that  just  wont  pay  their 
debts,  and  you  can't  help  yourself,  so 
I'm  free  to  confess  that  I  may  have  to 
come  around  again  to  get  you  to  take 
a  tug  at  other  folks'  duties,  and  then  of 
course  you'll  have  a  chance  to  say  which 
you  will  do  —  yes  or  no.  But  I'm  not 
after  anything  of  the  kind  to-day ;  haven't 
got  to  it  yet.  All  I  want  now  is  for  you 
to  pay  your  debt — the  part  of  it  that 
belongs  to  you  and  nobody  else  —  that's 
every  earthly  thing  that  I'm  after.  So 
come,  don't  let  me  take  any  more  of 
your  time." 

And  she  actually  befuddled  that  woman 
into  putting  down  in  black  and  white 
the  sum  that  was  her  fair  share  of  the 


Miss  Almina  St  John. —  Page  75. 


BEING  ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  WOMEN.         75 

debt  in  question.  Her  comment  as  she 
clicked  the  latch  of  that  gate,  was : 

"  Well,  well !  St.  Paul  got  along  nicely 
being  all  things  to  all  men,  I  dare  say  — 
but  if  he  had  tried  being  all  things  to  all 
women,  I  ain't  sure  but  he'd  have  given 
up  in  disgust.  Not  that  /  mean  to,  to 
be  sure,  but  then  I'm  a  woman ! " 

All  sorts  of  people  she  dealt  with. 
There  was  Miss  Almina  St.  John,  a  gay 
young  member  of  the  church,  who  when 
accosted  by  Miss  Priscilla,  answered: 

"  Oh,  horrors !  /  don't  know  anything 
about  money  or  debts.  I  always  send  my 
bills  to  papa  and  he  pays  them,  and  that 
is  all  I  have  to  do  with  it." 

"All    right,"   said    Miss    Priscilla,  whip- 


76  MISS    PRISCILLA   HUNTER. 

ping  out  her  pencil  from  her  great 
pocket.  "  That's  easy  done ;  just  write 
a  note  directing  him  to  pay  your  share 
of  this  debt,  and  I've  no  manner  of  doubt 
he'll  do  it ;  he's  not  the  man  to  refuse  a 
just  bill." 

"  But  I  don't  understand.  What  on 
earth  are  you  talking  about  ?  Why  don't 
you  go  to  papa  for  a  subscription  if  you 
want  money  ?  What  do  I  know  about  it, 
or  what  is  it  to  'me  ?  " 

"  Why,  bless  your  heart,  child  !  I  have 
been  to  him  for  his  part,  but  I  supposed 
young  ladies  like  you,  had  your  pin- 
money,  and  out  of  it  were  supposed  to 
pay  your  small  debts.  Your  share  isn't 
large,  to  be  sure,  but  it  needs  paying,  just 


BEING  ALL  THINGS   TO   ALL  WOMEN.         77 

the  same  as  though  it  were.  I  didn't 
understand  that  I  was  to  take  it  to  your 
father.  If  that's  the  way,  just  write  your 
note  and  I'll  tramp  back  there  with  it 
in  a  twinkling." 

"  What  an  idea ! "  said  Miss  Almina, 
thoughtfully.  An  idea  really  was  begin- 
ning  to  penetrate  through  her  frizzes. 
"  Send  an  order  to  papa  for  a  church 
debt!  He  would  think  I  was  demented. 
Why,  Miss  Priscilla,  if  he  has  subscribed, 
there  is  an  end  of  it,  I  should  think." 

"  I  can't  for  the  life  of  me  see  why.  He 
didn't  pay  your  share ;  only  his  own.  If 
he  eats  his  dinner,  I  suppose  that  isn't 
the  end  of  it,  you  have  to  eat  yours, 
besides.  There's  the  church,  and  you 


78  MISS   PRISCILLA    HUNTER. 

own  a  share  in  it;  you  helped  get  it 
into  debt,  you  step  on  the  carpets  and 
sit  under  the  gaslight,  and  wear  out  the 
cushions  every  Sabbath-day  when  you  are 
not  too  tired,  or  too  sleepy,  or  too  some 
thing  to  come  to  church.  Any  way  you 
have  contrived  to  wear  out  the  little 
share  I've  here  put  you  down  for. 
There's  the  strangest  notions  that  I'm 
out  on  this  tramp  for  the  sake  of  benev 
olence  ;  I  haven't  a  benevolent  idea  in 
my  head,  and  don't  mean  to  have  'till 
this  debt  is  paid ;  it's  justice  we're  after 
now ;  honesty,  common  honesty.  Are 
you  going  to  pay  your  share,  child,  or 
shall  I  put  you  down  on  the  pauper- 


BEING  ALL  THINGS   TO  ALL  WOMEN.         79 

list,    to   be   looked   after   by   the    church 
at   large?" 

Then    the   fair    Almina    laughed    out 
right. 

"  What  funny  notions  !  "  she  said :  "  let 
me  see  my  share  —  the  idea  /  is  that  all 
that  belongs  to  me  ?  That's  just  a  trifle. 
I  have  an  allowance  of  course,  but  it 
would  be  so  comical  to  take  any  of  it 
for  such  a  purpose !  Though  after  all 
as  you  say,  I  don't  know  why  I 
shouldn't.  Only  it  is  'so  funny  /  If  I 
do  it,  the  girls  all  ought  to.  Don't  you 
mean  to  make  the  girls  all  do  it,  Miss 
Priscilla?" 

"  /  make    them  !  "   said    Miss    Priscilla, 
snapping  her  keen,  grey  eyes  at  the  fair, 


80  MISS   PEISCILLA    HUNTER. 

frizzled  head ;  u  /  make  the  girls  in  our 
church  pay  their  debts !  Have  we  any 
really  dishonest  ones  among  us  ?  Of 
course  if  they  can  pay  anything^  they'll 
pay  this." 

"  Well,  it's  the  funniest  thing  I  ever 
did  in  my  life ! "  laughed  Miss  Almina, 
but  she  did  it,  wrote  her  aristocratic 
name  in  delicate,  unreadable  Italian 
tracery,  and  added  in  good  honest  fig 
ures  the  sum  which  Miss  Priscilla  had 
specified  as  her  fair  share  of  the 
debt.  And  thereafter,  she  talked  her 
'  idea '  to  all  the  girls,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  boys.  Unwittingly,  Miss  Priscilla 
had  secured  an  ally,  and  greatly  she  re 
joiced  thereat. 


CHAPTER.  IV. 

SHE    FINDS    SUBSTANCE    IN    SMOKE. 

'ER  scheme  widened  and  length 
ened  as  she  tramped.  She  called 
one  day  on  Mr.  Leonard  Phelps.  Now 
Mr.  Leonard  Phelps  was  one  of  those 
good-natured  young  men  who  have  fair 
salaries,  and  contrive  to  eat,  and  drink, 
and  drive  and  smoke  every  cent  of  them 
up,  until  some  day  they  get  married, 

81 


82  MISS    PBISCTTJiA    HUNTER. 

and  then  they  pinch,  and  twist,  and 
save,  and  grumble  for  the  rest  of  their 
lives,  but  as  a  rule  they  contrive  to 
eat,  and  smoke,  and  drive  on. 

Mr.  Phelps  was  in  the  middle  stage 
of  this  disease.  He  was  a  clerk  in  a 
large  dry-goods  house;  a  favorite  clerk, 
receiving  a  good  salary,  and  having  at 
present  no  one  besides  himself  and  the 
young  lady  who  chanced  to  take  his 
passing  fancy,  on  which  to  spend  his 
money. 

He  was  a  favorite  with  Miss  Priscilla ; 
she  liked  him  just  as  a  good  many 
others  did,  without  any  definite  reason 
save  the  fact  that  she  couldn't  help  it. 

"  He    is  an    idot ! "    she    was    apt   to 


She  found  him  alone  at  his  counter. —  Page  85. 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN  SMOKE.  85 

say,  snapping  her  eyes  and  sewing  fast. 
"  Just  a  born  idiot,  and  nothing  else ; 
wasting  his  time  and  his  talents,  and 
frolicing  through  his  life,  for  all  the 
world  like  the  "  gaudy  young  butterfly " 
that  I  used  to  read  about  when  I  went 
to  school.  But  for  all  that,  I  can't 
help  liking  him ;  though  I  can't  see 
anything  in  life  that  ought  to  be  liked 
about  him." 

It  was  on  this  young  man  whom 
she  called  with  her  subscription  paper. 
She  found  him  alone  at  his  counter, 
in  good  humor,  as  he  generally  was, 
and  engaged  in  whistling  while  he  tried 
to  determine  in  his  own  mind  where  to 
waste  the  evening  which  was  drawing 


86  MISS    PBISCILLA  HUNTEK. 

near,  and  which  fell  to  him  as  a  leis 
ure  one. 

He  parried  Miss  Priscilla's  thrusts 
with  the  most  good-natured  skill  for 
some  time,  then,  growing  weary  of  her, 
said  courteously : 

"  The  truth  is,  Miss  Hunter,  I  should 
like  exceedingly  well  to  help  you ;  I 
don't  know  anything  that  would  give 
me  greater  pleasure  if  I  were  able  to 
do  it ;  but  the  honest  fact  is  that  I 
haven't  the  money  to  spare.  It  is  all 
I  can  do  to  live,  these  are  hard  times 
you  know;  and  what  with  this  and 
that  unexpected  drain  on  my  purse  — 
for  something  is  always  coming  up  to 
take  money — it  is  a  regular  struggle 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN   SMOKE.  87 

with  me  to  keep  out  of  debt.  I  feel 
almost  worn  out  in  the  attempt." 

"You  do  look  thin,  that's  a  fact!" 
said  Miss  Priscilla,  in  a  significant  tone ; 
and  she  surveyed  his  large,  well-propor 
tioned,  somewhat  portly  form,  with  such 
an  air  of  mock  commiseration  on  her 
face,  that  it  provoked  a  burst  of  laugh 
ter  from  the  gay  young  man. 

"  I  don't  want  to  be  hard  on  you," 
continued  his  tormenter.  "  I  know  you 
have  a  great  many  depending  on  you 
for  food  and  clothes,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
with  your  little  bit  of  a  salary — it  takes 
me  exactly  three  years  and  eight  months 
sewing  ten  hours  a  day,  three  hundred 


88  MISS  PKISCILLA  SUNTEfc. 

and  thirteen  days  in  a  year,  to  make 
it,  out  of  pants  —  so  of  course  I  know 
you  can't  have  much  to  give.  Let  me 
have  for  the  next  six  months,  what  you 
know  on  your  honor  as  a  gentleman 
you  would  spend  in  smoke,  and  I'll  let 
you  off  from  the  balance." 

"  Smoke ! "  he  said,  somewhat  taken 
aback.  "  Oh  now,  Miss  Priscilla !  you 
wouldn't  be  so  hard-hearted  as  to  have 
me  give  up  my  cigars  ?  They  are  all  the 
comfort  I  have  in  life." 

"  Poor  fellow !  getting  comfort  out  of 
smoke ;  you  are  poor,  that's  a  fact ! 
And  so  you  are  willing  to  own  that 
you  care  more  for  your  puffs  of  smoke 
than  you  do  for  the  Lord  ?" 


SHE  FINDS    SUBSTANCE   IN   SMOKE.  89 

"Oh,  as  to  that,  I'm  not  a  professor 
of  religion,  you  know ;  it  is  not  expected 
of  me  to  be  governed  by  any  such 
motives." 

"  Bless  me !  why  not  ?  Who  doesn't 
expect  it  of  you?  That's  the  queerest 
way  to  talk  I  ever  heard  of !  Sup 
pose  you  were  called  on  to  help  your 
father's  family,  would  you  say :  '  Well 
now,  I  don't  pretend  to  belong  to  my 
father's  family.  I  eat  food  of  his  pro 
viding  to  be  sure,  and  wear  clothes 
which  his  money  furnishes,  but  I  have 
never  made  any  profession  of  belonging 
to  the  family,  and  I  don't  see  how  I 
can  be  expected  to  take  an  interest  in 
them?" 


90  MISS   PEISCILLA    HUNTER. 

Certainly,  this  was  a  new  way  of  put 
ting  a  truth,  and  Mr.  Leonard  Phelps 
who  was  not  easily  embarrassed,  felt  his 
face  flush  slightly,  as  one  who  realized 
that  his  logic  had  put  him  into  very 
close  quarters. 

"Well,  but,  Miss  Hunter,"  he  said, 
rallying,  "you  will  surely  admit  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  people  who 
profess  religion,  and  those  who  do  not." 

"  I  dare  say  there  is.  As  much  dif 
ference  in  fact,  as  there  is  between  a 
son  who  professes  to  love  his  father, 
and  one  who  doesn't.  But  if  you  mean 
there  ought  to  be  a  difference,  I  can't 
say  that  I  see  how  it  takes  away  a 
son's  obligation  to  behave  himself,  be- 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN   SMOKE.  91 

cause  he  doesn't  profess  to  care  for  his 
father's  family.  You  see,  young  man, 
it  isn't  a  question  that  lies  with  you  to 
settle,  whether  you  will  have  Mr.  Mar 
cus  Phelps  for  your  father  or  not.  He  is 
your  father,  and  you  can't  help  yourself ; 
and  you  owe  him  your  love  —  whether 
he  gets  it  or  not,  is  another  thing. 
Now  what  you  need  to  remember,  is, 
that  the  Lord  is  your  father,  whether 
you  choose  to  own  him  or  not;  and 
he  has  a  right  to  your  love,  and  your 
help.  Whether  you  give  him  his  rights 
or  not,  is  your  affair,  and  his.  But 
don't  go  to  saying  that  a  thing  isn't 
expected  of  you,  because  you  don't  do 
it !  That's  ruinous  doctrine,  and  hasn't 


92  MISS   PKISCILLA    HUNTER. 

any  common  sense  about  it,  either. 
There's  lots  expected  of  people  on  the 
score  of  their  having  brains,  and  souls, 
and  all  that,  and  they  seem  to  take  de 
light  some  of  'em  in  disappointing  all 
the  expectations  that  their  friends  have ; 
but,  unless  they  are  born  idiots,  they 
won't  pretend  that  shirking  their  duty 
releases  them  from  all  responsibility  in 
the  matter." 

This  is  only  a  part  of  the  conversa 
tion  ;  it  was  continued  at  some  length, 
and  grew  serious,  developing  more 
thought  about  these  matters  of  obliga 
tion,  and  fatherhood,  and  sonship,  than 
this  young  man  had  ever  given  before; 
and  we  cannot  yet  tell  whereunto  this 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE   IN   SMOKE.  93 

thing  may  grow;  certain  it  is  though, 
that  he  gave  his  promise,  not  to  give  up 
smoking,  indeed  —  that  was  perhaps  too 
much  for  so  voluptuous  a  nature  to  do 
on  the  sudden — but  to  hold  himself  to  a 
strict  account  with  his  cigars,  and  what 
ever  they  cost  him  for  the  next  six 
months,  deliver  that  sum  into  the  church- 
fund  for  his  share  of  the  payment  of  the 
debt. 

Miss  Priscilla  readily  agreed  to  that, 
and  trudged  away  saying  to  herself  with 
a  satisfied  nod: 

"  There's  an  honest  penny  towards  pay 
ing  the  share  of  those  who  won't  pay  • 
he  doesn't  think  he'll  double  his  share 
by  the  means  —  but  I  know  it." 


94  MISS   PEISCILLA    HUNTER. 

The  talk  had  suggested  a  new  idea 
to  her  busy  brain,  and  before  that  day 
was  done  she  had  made  several  dashes 
at  young  men  in  the  church  and  congre 
gation,  the  result  of  which  she  entered 
in  her  book  under  the  brief  but  expres 
sive  heading: 

"In    account   with    smoke" — so    much. 

Tramp  !  tramp  !  The  days  went  on,  so 
did  the  work.  Those  who  were  amused 
at  first  and  eager,  gradually  lost  interest, 
and  as  Miss  Priscilla  kept  her  own  coun 
sel  as  to  results,  ceased  questioning  her, 
or  talking  about  the  new  enterprise  ;  and 
finally  those  who  thought  about  it  at  all, 
contented  themselves  with  the  fond  mem 
ory  that  they  were  not  to  be  called  on 


In  account  with  smoke." —  Page  94. 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN   SMOKE.  97 

for  the  payment  of  their  subscriptions 
unless  the  whole  sum  was  raised.  They 
had  Miss  Priscilla's  word  for  that. 

The  three  weeks  passed,  and  she  took 
down  her  vacation  sign,  and  sat  again  in 
her  one  window,  with  shears  and  buttons 
and  thread  around  her,  and  sewed  steadily 
a  large  share  of  the  day ;  but  regularly, 
as  the  light  began  to  wane,  donned  shawl 
and  bonnet,  and  trudged  off. 

Also  she  had  many  schemes  not  appar 
ently  connected  with  the  church  debt. 
"  Might  as  well  kill  two  birds  with  one 
stone,"  she  had  begun  to  say  early  in 
her  rounds.  So  she  had  planned,  and 
matured,  and  actually  started  an  enter- 
prize  whereby  eyery  woman  in  the  church 


98  MISS   PKISCILLA    HUNTEK. 

was  pledged  to  make  an  apron,  or  a  towel, 
or  a  stove-holder,  or  a  pair  of  stockings, 
something  with  her  own  hands,  and  have 
ready  for  Miss  Priscilla  against  a  certain 
day  of  the  month,  in  a  certain  month  of 
the  year. 

"  This  is  charity?  explained  Miss  Pris 
cilla.  "  This  is  for  the  heathen." 

"But  what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
them  ?  The  heathen  don't  want  kitchen 
aprons  and  dish-towels ;  they  want  Bibles 
and  tracts." 

"  Never  you  mind  that !  "  would  Miss 
Priscilla  return,  followed  with  a  peculiar 
pressure  of  her  lips :  "  There's  many  a 
heathen  would  be  the  better  for  a  good 
decent  kitchen  apron,  long  enough  to 


The  better  for  a  good  kitchen  apron." — Page 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN  SMOKE.          101 

cover  her  nicely.  But  that's  neither  here 
nor  there.  These  things  are  for  the 
heathen,  and  they'll  get  them  in  one  shape 
or  another ;  make  'em  and  see." 

And  behold,  it  came  to  pass,  that 
when  the  young  ladies  held  their  an 
nual  fair  of  worsted  dogs,  and  cats, 
sitting  on  bright  worsted  cushions,  and 
tidies,  Miss  Priscilla  had  a  corner  of 
the  room  and  a  big  table  devoted  to  the 
use  of  the  aprons,  and  dish-towels,  and 
stockings,  and  holders.  And  whatever 
got  possession  of  the  people,  whether  it 
was  the  novelty  of  seeing  something  really 
useful  for  sale  at  a  fair,  or  whether  Miss 
Priscilla  had  awakened  in  their  hearts 
some  of  her  enthusiasm,  or  whether  it 


102  MISS   PEISCILLA    HTJNTEB. 

was  an  answer  to  some  of  her  earnest 
prayers  up  there  in  that  little  back  room, 
certain  it  is  that  by  eleven  o'clock,  not  a 
towel,  or  apron,  or  mitten,  or  holder  was 
left.  Miss  Priscilla  counted  her  gains 
with  quiet  satisfaction,  and  the  next  day 
made  a  deposit  in  the  First  National 
bank. 

"  It  is  for  the  heathen,  Mr.  Merchant," 
she  explained.  "  Can  it  be  entered  in 
their  name  and  be  drawing  interest,  while 
I  am  at  work  gathering  up  what  is  to 
go  with  it?" 

"  So  you  have  deserted  the  enlightened 
people  of  our  city  as  hopeless,  have 
you  ? "  laughed  Mr.  Merchant,  as  he 
counted  the  dimes  and  five-cent  bits  and 


We'll  give  you  five  percent  interest  on  this."—  Page  105. 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN   SMOKE.          105 

coppers.  "  Well,  I  guess  you  are  wise, 
the  heathen  will  make  better  returns. 
Yes,  we'll  give  you  five  per  cent  interest 
on  this." 

"  The  heathen  are  everywhere,"  was 
Miss  Priscilla's  brief  comment  as  she 
took  her  bank-book  and  departed.  Every 
"  man,  woman  and  child?  That  had  been 
her  promise,  and  she  kept  it  bravely. 

All  the  children  were  organized  into  a 
society  which  was  called  the  "  Penny 
Club."  Not  a  child  in  the  city  who  could 
by  any  shadow  of  reason  be  counted 
among  the  children  of  the  church,  but 
belonged  to  Miss  Priscilla's  club  ;  all  were 
pledged  to  give,  some  of  them  a  penny 
a  day,  some  of  them  a  penny  a  week, 


106  MISS  PEISCILLA  HUNTER. 

and  a  few  of  them  a  penny  a  month,  ac 
cording  to  their  several  degrees  of  wealth 
or  poverty.  Each  of  them  was  to  earn 
this  money  for  himself,  and  those  who 
were  too  poor  to  expect  payment  from 
their  own  families,  were  fitted  out  with 
scraps  from  many  jackets  and  trousers 
that  had  accumulated  in  Miss  Priscilla's 
back  room,  and  instructed  how  to  make 
pen-wipers  for  the  million.  The  boys 
were  set  to  whittling,  and  many  a  neat 
spool-holder  and  thimble-stand  were  whit 
tled  out  that  would  never  have  been 
thought  of,  but  for  Miss  Priscilla's  wits. 
All  these  things  found  their  place  at  the 
fair,  and  found  sale  besides. 

"  If    people  will   go    to  fairs    to  spend 


The  "  Penny  Club."—  Page  105. 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN  SMOKE.         109 

their  money,"  said  Miss  Priscilla,  as  she 
fastened  a  ticket  of  price  on  each  little 
pen-wiper  and  whittled  article — "why  let 
'em,  I'm  willing;  here's  something  for 
'em  to  buy." 

And  they  bought  them. 

Every  child  in  the  congregation  re 
ported  her  pennies  and  her  earnings  to 
Miss  Priscilla  on  certain  days  of  the 
week,  each  having  her  special  day,  and 
each  kept  a  bit  of  a  book  —  made  by 
folding  a  half-sheet  of  paper  a  number 
of  times  and  putting  a  stitch  of  bright 
thread  through  it  —  and  each  child  made 
her  entry  in  neat  school-hand  or  crooked 
capitals,  according  to  the  degree  of  edu 
cation  acquired;  and  nothing  flourished 


110  MISS   PEISCILLA   HUNTER. 

better,  or  was  productive  of  more  fun  to 
the  young  people  themselves,  than  Miss 
Priscilla's  "  Penny  Club." 

As  for  the  money  they  pledged,  and 
the  money  which  they  earned  and  brought 
that  they  had  not  pledged,  Miss  Pris- 
cilla  —  large  faith  though  she  had  —  was 
amazed  at  the  amount !  As  she  ran  her 
eyes  over  the  rows  and  rows  of  pen 
nies,  and  five-cent  pieces,  and  dimes,  and 
marked  how  they  swelled  and  how  they 
footed  up,  she  murmured: 

"  Who  would  have  thought  that  a  few 
pennies  gathered  together,  would  make 
so  many !  If  the  world  was  at  work 
in  a  penny  club  for  missions,  we  could 
pay  the  everlasting  debt  of  the  foreign 


SHE  FINDS   SUBSTANCE  IN  SMOKE.        Ill 

boards.  A  penny  a  day !  I  declare  I'm 
equal  to  that,  myself;  now  multiply  me 
by  a  few  million  of  people,  and  how 
rich  and  powerful  I  am !  How  those 
boards  exist,  being  forever  '  overdrawn ' 
is  more  than  I  can  understand.  Still, 
I'm  free  to  confess  that  /  don't  want 
to  go  around  with  a  subscription  to  help 
make  'em  even !  not  yet  awhile,  anyhow." 


CHAPTER  V. 

ATTAINS    TO   THE    SPEECH-MAKING   ERA. 


[ON'T     suppose    that    there     were 

not    in     our    church,    those    who 

• 

met  Miss  Priscilla  half-way  with  eager 
hearts,  and  open  pockets;  there  were 
many  who  had  felt  as  she  did,  and  who 
knew  the  meaning  of  sacrifice ;  in  tri 
fling  ways,  indeed,  but  it  is  the  trifling 
sacrifices  that  pinch.  One  can  do  a 


112 


ATTAINS  TO  THE   SPEECH-MAKING  ERA.   113 

great  thing  now  and  then,  that  he 
knows  people  will  admire,  even  though 
he  has  no  such  selfish  motive  in  doing 
it,  still  it  helps,  and  cheers,  to  know 
that  an  appreciative  world  looks  on  and 
says  :  "  That  was  well  done  ! "  But  to 
go  without  a  new  dress  all  winter  —  to  go 
to  church,  and  to  society,  and  occa 
sionally  to  a  tea-party,  wearing  the  cash 
mere  or  alpacca  that  has  dJ>ne  duty 

• 
as  best  for  two  years,  and   do  it  for  the 

sake  of  the  church,  and  say  nothing 
about  it,  and  know  that  people  are  ig 
norant  of  the  reason,  and  feel  that  they 
are  wondering  whether  you  are  aware 
that  your  dress  really  begins  to  look 
"  rusty  " —  that  is  sacrifice. 


114  MISS    PRISCILLA   HUNTER. 

There  were  those  young  couples  who 
quietly  gave  up  the  money  laid  aside  for 
concert  tickets,  and  lecture  tickets,  and 
even  a  new  book  now  and  then,  gave 
them  up  with  a  little  sigh  to  be  sure, 
and  yet  they  hid  even  the  sigh  from 
each  other,  and  said  cheerily :  "  It  is 
only  for  one  winter;  when  we  get  out 
of  debt  we  shall  feel  so  much  better." 
Such  people  had  faith  in  Miss  Priscilla; 
they  believed  that  the  debt  would  be 
paid ;  weren't  they  helping  to  the  best 
of  their  ability  with  prayerfully  enlight 
ened  consciences?  There  were  those 
who  went  down  lower  than  that;  and 
cut  off  the  meat  bill,  and  had  hashes 
for  dinner  oftener,  and  codfish  balls, 


ATTAINS  TO  THE   SPEECH-MAKING  EBA.  115 

and  now  and  then  baked  potatoes  and 
milk  gravy,  and  no  meat  at  all,  or  apol 
ogy  for  meat,  because  they  wanted  the 
church  debt  paid ;  such  people  knew  it 
would  be  paid.  .  There  were  tender  little 
places  too  in  Miss  Priscilla's  work ; 
there  was  a  mother  who  sat  and  thought, 
after  she  had  given  her  little  contribu 
tion,  (all  she  could  afford,)  and  wiped 
the  tears  that  dropped  slowly  down  her 
cheeks,  and  Miss  Priscilla  waited,  and 
wondered,  and  felt  not  at  liberty  to  go 
lest  there  was  something  left  unsaid 
that  this  mother  wanted  to  say ;  and 
finally  the  mother  arose  hastily  and  went 
to  her  bureau  drawer,  and  unlocked  it, 
and  drew  from  under  piles  of  clothes  a 


116  MISS   PEISCILLA  HUNTEE. 

little  box  and  unlocked  that  with  a  tiny 
key  she  carried,  and  drew  forth  what  ? 
A  gold  chain  and  clasps  ?  a  diamond 
ring  ?  a  jeweled  bracelet  ?  Oh,  no  !  a  lit 
tle  wooden  Noah's  ark,  with  the  paint 
fresh  on  the  animals,  and  a  look  of 
newness  about  it  all,  though  it  had  lain 
there  for  months. 

"  This  was  my  little  Jamie's,"  she 
said :  "  He  had  it  only  a  day  or  two 
before  he  went  away;  he  loved  it  best 
of  anything  he  had ;  and  he  was  so 
careful  as  he  handled  it,  that  there  isn't 
a  spot  on  anything,  nor  a  scratch;  I 
never  could  bear  to  think  of  any  other 
fingers  touching  it;  but  I  believe  I'll 
give  it  to  you;  you  can  put  it  on  that 


ATTAINS  TO   THE   SPEECH-MAKING  EKA.  117 

toy-table  you  are  going  to  have  for  the 
children ;  put  Jamie's  name  on  it,  and 
maybe  somebody  will  buy  it  for  his  sake ; 
he  would  like  to  be  counted  in  with  the 
children  if  he  were  here,  and  he  shall, 
the  darling;"  and  then  the  mother  broke 
down  utterly,  and  wept  in  bitterness  of 
soul,  because  of  the  aching  emptiness 
of  her  mother-heart;  and  the  father 
looked  on  with  quivering  lip,  and  eyes 
that  dimmed  constantly,  and  presently 
he  drew  his  old-fashioned  silver  watch 
from  his  pocket,  unfastened  the  black 
cord,  and  drew  from  it  a  silver  half 
dollar  with  a  hole  drilled  in  it. 

"  Here,"    he    said    with    husky    voice ; 
"  I    will    not   let  you   do  all   the   sacrific- 


118  MISS  PBISCILLA   HUNTEB. 

ing  Mary;  this  is  Jamie's  half  dollar, 
he  had  it  when  he  was  a  baby,  and 
he  wore  it  for  a  watch  as  long  as  he 
lived.  I  have  worn  it  since,  but  I'll 
give  it  as  Jamie's  share  towards  the 
church." 

And  he  dropped  the  shining  thing 
into  the  box  with  Noah's  ark,  and  then 
walked  to  the  window  and  turned  his 
back  on  them  both,  and  leaned  his  head 
on  the  glass,  and  struggled  for  calmness. 
And  that  was  sacrifice ! 

"  God  bless  you ! "  murmured  Miss 
Priscilla,  and  her  voice  was  choked  so 
that  she  could  say  no  more ;  indeed,  she 
had  no  more  to  say.  She  went  away 
at  once;  went  home  to  her  own  little, 


"  That  was  sacrifice  !  " —  Page  118. 


ATTAINS  TO  THE   SPEECH-MAKING  EKA.  121 

dark  room;  she  threw  off  her  bonnet 
and  her  rubbers,  and  then  she  laid  the 
box  on  her  poor  little  bed  and  opened 
it,  and  got  down  before  it  and  she  said : 
"  O  Lord,  thou  seest  this  Noah's  ark 
and  this  half  dollar;  thou  knowest  little 
Jamie,  he  is  safe  in  thine  arms  this 
minute ;  here  are  his  gifts  to  our  church. 
Lord  bless  Jamie's  gift;  bless  his  father 
and  mother  with  a  blessing  that  shall  be 
pressed  down,  and  running  over  in  their 
hearts ;  and  bless  our  church — thy  church 
Lord  —  bought  with  thy  precious  blood; 
honor  our  efforts,  forgive  our  mistakes, 
forgive  the  efforts  that  we  dorit  make, 
and  make  it  all  end  for  thy  glory, 
Amen." 


122  MISS    FKISCILLA  HUNTER. 

After  that,  Miss  Pnscilla  knew  that 
the  cause  was  won. 

So  the  winter  passed;  no4:  for  one  day 
did  this  woman's  faith,  or  feet  falter,  or 
her  courage  fail ;  she  tramped  and  talked, 
and  planned,  and  worked,  and  saved, 
and  prayed;  and  finally  presented  her 
self  one  morning  at  the  door  of  the 
First  National  Bank,  and  with  brisk 
movements  produced  from  her  pocket 
the  note  that  Mr.  Merchant  had  given 

her;  made    out  according    to    his    humor 

• 

precisely  as  she  had  dictated :  "  Payable 
the  2  yth  day  of  April,  18  —  at  ten 
o'clock,  A.  M." 

"Read  that,"  she  said  briefly.  "Re 
member  it  ?  " 


ATTAINS  TO  THE   SPEECH-MAKING  ERA.   123 

"  I  do  certainly,  Miss  Hunter." 

"  All  right  then  ;  it's  the  twenty-seventh 
day  of  April,  I  suppose  you  know ;  and 
it  is  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  here  I  am, 
waiting." 

"  But  there  is  a  clause  to  the  note 
that  -  you  overlook ;  I  was  not  to  be 
asked  for  it  you  will  remember ;  unless 
the  entire  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars 
had  been  collected." 

"  How  do  you  know  I  overlook  it  ? 
My  eyesight  is  good,  (when  I  get  on 
my  glasses,)  and  my  memory  is,  with 
out  'em.  It's  all  right  of  course,  or  I 
wouldn't  be  here;  count  out  your  three 
hundred  if  you  please ;  for  I'm  in  a 


124  MISS    PEISCILLA  HUNTER. 

tremendous    hurry;   there  is   a  great  deal 
to  do  to-day." 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  to  you 
the  dazed  way  in  which  Mr.  Merchant 
retired  behind  his  desk,  and  the  puzzled 
air  with  which  he  said  as  he  handed 
Miss  Priscilla  the  three  hundred  dollars 
in  crisp  bank  notes : 

"  I've  no  doubt  this  is  all  right,  Miss 
Hunter.  I  would  trust  you  with  my 
entire  purse,  you  know." 

'  "  Of  course  it  is,"  she  said,  answering 
the  first  part  of  the  sentence.  "  I  shall 
be  after  that  money  for  the  heathen, 
in  a  few  days;  now,  it  is  time  they  were 
looked  after;  I  want  to  leave  it  as 


ATTAINS    TO   THE    SPEECH-MAKING   ERA.  125 

long  as  I  can  though,  for  the  sake  of 
the  interest." 

And    then  she  tramped  off. 

In  a  marvelously  short  time  after 
this  payment  was  made,  considering 
the  number  of  things  that  were  done  in 
the  interim,  there  came  a  day  when  the 
entire  congregation  of  our  church  was 
called  together  on  a  week  day,  to 
hear  a  report  concerning  the  church- 
debt.  There  was  never  a  fuller  meeting 
of  our  congregation ;  all  the  people  from 
the  country  were  there,  and  all  the  chil 
dren  were  there,  and  those  who  had  been 
for  some  time  too  feeble  to  go  to 
church  were  there ;  and  a  general  air  of 
expectation  prevailed. 


126  MISS   PBISCILLA    HUNTEE. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  and 
Mr.  Merchant  was  elected  chairman. 
His  opening  speech  was  not  a  brief 
one.  He  referred  to  the  church-debt, 
which  certainly  everybody  knew  about ; 
he  dwelt  on  the  disgrace  which  it  had 
been  to  them  for  so  long,  which  every 
body  understood ;  he  referred  to  their 
sister,  Miss  Priscilla  Hunter,  and  the 
self-sacrificing  spirit  which  she  had 
shown,  and  the  marvelous  work  which 
she  had  accomplished.  And  he  did  not 
hear  how  that  self-sacrificing  sister  who 
sat  away  back  in  a  dark  corner  of  the 
church  under  the  gallery,  muttered  to 
herself : 

"  Bah !  leave  that  part  out." 


ATTAINS  TO   THE   SPEECH-MAKING  EEA.  127 

So  he  continued  to  enlarge  upon  it, 
till  she  declared  afterwards,  that  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  fear  of  helping  to  con 
tract  another  church-debt,  she  could  have 
jumped  through  the  stained  glass  win 
dow.  But  at  last  he  did  reach  the 
actual  report : 

"  Debt,  five  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixty-two  dollars." 

Every  child  in  the  church  knew  those 
figures. 

"Received  on  subscription  four  thou 
sand  four  hundred  and  twenty  dollars ; 
proceeds  from  young  ladies  fund,  do 
nated  voluntarily,  two  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  dollars ;  proceeds  from 
chickens,  butter,  eggs,  milk,  cabbage, 


128  MISS   PBISCILLA    HUNTER. 

potatoes,  cheese,  pork,  and  other  articles 
of  produce,  donated  by  our  country 
friends,  and  sold  by  Miss  Hunter  at 
the  highest  market  prices,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  dollars.  Proceeds  from 
livery  horses  not  hired,  and  oysters  not 
bought,  and  wines  not  ordered  by  our 
young  men:  two  hundred  and  seventeen 
dollars;  proceeds  from  smoke,  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty-nine  dollars  and  eighty 
cents.  Children's  fund,  earned  by  them 
selves,  in  the  penny-club,  three  hundred 
and  twenty-four  dollars,  and  thirty-six 
cents.  Proceeds  from  work  done  for 
the  benefit  of  the  heathen,  two  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  dollars  and  thirty-five 
cents. 


ATTAINS   TO   THE   SPEECH-MAKING  ERA.  129 

This  amount,  Mr.  Merchant  pro 
ceeded  to  explain,  he  was  instructed  by 
their  Sister  Hunter  to  say,  had  been 
raised  in  the  confident  expectation  that 
there  would  be  some  in  their  church, 
who,  in  refusing  to  provide  for  their  own 
household,  would  be  "  worse  than  the 
heathen,"  according  to  Scripture.  But  she 
desired  to  take  this  occasion  to  offer 
her  apology  for  having  thought  so  meanly 
of  her  brethren  and  sisters.  It  had  come 
to  pass,  that  the  heathen  had  all  been 
converted !  Not  one  remained  in  their 
borders ;  not  a  name  in  the  entire  con 
gregation  but  was  represented  on  the 
subscription  list.  Therefore,  the  sum  to 
tal  of  this  collection  is  : 


130  MISS   PEISCILLA    HUNTEfc. 

"  Five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine 
teen  dollars  and  fifty-one  cents !  leaving 
a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  of  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty-seven  dollars  and  fifty-one 
cents." 

Before  he  sat  down  he  would  say  that 
Miss  Hunter  and  others  equally  interested, 
hoped  to  see  the  surplus  appropriated 
without  delay,  to  the  repairing  of  the 
parsonage  drain,  and  pump,  and  woodshed, 
and  the  building  of  a  new  fence  in  front 
of  the  parsonage. 

Sanctuary  though  it  was,  and  in  the 
presence  of  deacons,  elders,  board  of  trus 
tees,  and  dignitaries  of  all  sorts  —  when 
this  report  was  concluded  the  small  boys 
began  to  stamp,  and,  some  way,  nobody 


ATTAINS  TO  THE  SPEECH-MAKING  EEA.  131 

seemed  disposed  to  stop  them.  Instead, 
the  older  ones — some  of  them  —  followed 
this  example,  encouraged  by  the  waving 
of  many  handkerchiefs,  in  the  hands  of 
the  ladies. 

Who  could  help  it?  The  reproach  of 
Israel  was  taken  away,  and  the  parson 
age  was  to  have  a  new  fence !  Actually 
we  had  money  in  our  pockets  with  which 
to  pay  for  that  fence !  We  were  free ! 
If  we  had  only  been  a  poor  chilrch,  strug 
gling  for  existence,  and  had  made  such 
a  noble  lift  as  this,  how  proud  we  could 
have  been ! 

"But  as  it  is"— said  Miss  Priscilla, 
when  I  called  on  her  the  next  morning 
to  talk  over  all  these  wonderful  results  — 


132  MISS  PRISCTLLA    HTJNTEB. 

"Mr.  Merchant  with  his  hundred  thou 
sands,  and  Mr.  Ritchie  with  his  stocks 
and  bonds,  and  Mr.  Hoardwell  with  his 
real  estate  and  taxes,  were  about  the 
only  ones  who  bubbled  over  into  speeches 
about  'our  noble  effort.'  For  my  part, 
I  can't  see  that  we  have  done  anything 
but  our  duty ;  and  the  shame  is,  that  we 
didn't  do  it  long  ago,  without  any  fuss. 
Some  of  our  folks,  though,  have  done 
more  than  their  duty;  they  have  been 
generous,  and  can  afford  to  rejoice.  If 
I  had  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  and 
had  given  one  hundred  of  it,  and  my 
neighbor  next  door  was  working  by  the 
day  at  two  dollars,  and  had  given  ten  of 
'em,  somehow  I  don't  believe  I  should 


"  I  can  sew  in  peace  now." — Page  135. 


ATTAINS   TO   THE   SPEECH-MAKING  ERA.  135 

have  felt  like  making  a  big  speech  about 
'our  sacrifices.'  But  that's  neither  here 
nor  there.  Speeches  don't  hurt  anybody, 
especially  after  the  work  is  done,  and 
some  folks  like  to  make  'em.  Let  'em 
do  it  I  say;  I'm  willing  to  listen.  The 
debt  is  paid,  anyhow,  and  that  old  clat 
tering  fence  around  the  parsonage  that 
has  been  a  regular  thorn  sticking  into 
every  bit  of  flesh  on  my  body,  is  to  come 
down  !  You  better  believe  that  I'm  glad 
of  it !  I  can  sew  in  peace,  now,  and  I'll 
burn  two  lamps  at  once,  every  night  for 
a  week.  See  if  I  don't ! " 

THE   END. 


My  daughter  Susan.  —Frontispiece. 


MY   DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PLANNING     A     CAMPAIGN. 

HAT  was  the  term  by  which  I 
had  always  heard  her  mother  des 
ignate  her,  and  I  had  heard  the  term 
a  great  many  times.  It  seems  to  be 
necessary  for  Mrs.  Carleton  to  speak 
often  of  her  daughter.  I  had  never  met 


8  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

the  young  lady,  but  I  had  a  general 
idea  of  how  she  looked  and  acted. 
When  I  complimented  Mrs.  Carleton 
on  the  extreme  evenness  of  her  ma 
chine  stitching,  she  was  sure  to  reply : 

"  My  daughter  Susan  runs  the  machine 
for  me ;  she  sews  very  nicely." 

If  I  commented  on  the  delicacy  of  her 
sponge-cake,  instantly  I  heard  the  refrain : 

"  Yes,  my  daughter  Susan  rarely  makes 
a  mistake  in  her  cake." 

If  I  said  anything  about  the  exquisite 
neatness  that  prevailed,  in  the  sitting-room, 
where  several  little  children  were  allowed 
full  play,  my  friend  would  reply  with  a 
satisfied  air: 

"  My    daughter    Susan    always   had    a 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  9 

faculty  for  keeping  things  straight ;  I 
never  could  understand  how  she  did  it." 

Once  I  called  for  my  friend  to  go  on 
an  important  commission  which  had  been 
intrusted  to  us,  and  as  we  passed  down 
the  street,  I  said : 

"  I  was  fearful  that  you  would  not  be 
able  to  go.  Mr.  Carleton  said  that  your 
little  Faye  was  not  quite  well." 

"Oh,"  the  mother  answered  with  a  re 
lieved  air  and  smile,  "  my  daughter  Susan 
is  at  the  helm ;  Faye  is  quite  willing  to 
exchange  me  for  her,  at  any  time." 

"  What  a  blessed  comfort  a  quiet,  domes 
tic,  elderly  daughter  must  be;  fashioned 
like  that  sensible  Susan  of  Mrs.  Carle- 


ton's  ! " 


10  MY   DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

This  I  said  to  my  husband  one  evening, 
as  I  fretted  a  bit  over  some  jar  in  our 
domestic  machinery. 

"  Now  Mrs.  Carleton  never  has  any 
trouble;  her  sewing,  and  her  housekeep 
ing,  and  her  nursery  arrangements  move 
like  clock-work;  all  because  she  has  an 
elderly,  sensible,  homely  daughter,  who  is 
not  the  fashion,  and  has  no  inclination  to 
be.  Really,  I  think  there  is  more  comfort 
to  be  taken  with  that  sort  of  daughter, 
than  any  other." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  Miss  Carleton  ?  "  my 
husband  asked,  wheeling  around  to  me 
with  his  necktie  half  arranged. 

"  No,  I  never  did  ;  queer,  isn't  it  ?  but  I 
know  precisely  how  she  looks  and  acts ; 


Did  you  ever  see  Miss  Carleton  ?" — Page  10. 


PLANNING    A  CAMPAIGN.  13 

doesn't  her  mother  quote  her  to  me  on 
every  useful  and  commonplace  occasion  ?  " 

My  husband  turned  back  to  his  necktie 
with  a  queer  smile  on  his  face,  and  the 
sententious  remark: 

"  When  you  make  the  young  woman's 
acquaintance,  I  should  like  to  hear  from 
you  again." 

The  fact  of  my  not  having  met  Miss 
Susan  is  easily  explained.  Her  mother 
and  I  were  watering-place  acquaintances ; 
we  had  grown  intimate  during  our  enforced 
absence  from  home,  and  discovering  that 
our  homes  were  in  the  same  city,  we, 
on  our  return,  continued  the  intimacy. 
At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  we  had 
been  at  home  but  a  few  weeks,  and 


14  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

my  calls  at  the  Carleton  mansion  had 
all  chanced  to  be  made  at  hours  when 
the  elder  daughter  was  either  absent,  or 
specially  engaged. 

One  sunny  morning  I  dropped  into 
my  friend's  nursery  and  chatted  with 
her  until  their  dinner  bell  rang.  "Come 
down  to  dinner,"  the  lady  said  with 
that  cordial  cheeriness  of  tone  which 
carries  a  sense  of  hospitality  in  it ;  "  we 
are  quite  alone,  and  my  daughter  Susan 
will  be  glad  to  meet  you ;  she  was 
remarking  the  other  day  that  she  ought 
to  know  you.  She  is  in  the  dining- 
room  now,  I  presume,  giving  a  general 
oversight  to  things ;  she  generally  goes 
down  ten  minutes  or  so  before  the  bell 


PLAN1STING    A   CAMPAIGN.  15 

rings ;  sometimes  indeed,  she  spends  her 
morning  there ;  she  likes  to  have  things 
arranged  just  right." 

As  we  descended  those  basement 
stairs,  I  found  myself  wishing  for  the 
hundredth  time,  that  I  had  a  "daughter 
Susan,"  or  an  elderly,  sensible,  useful 
relative  of  some  sort;  one  who  was  grey- 
eyed  and  pug-nosed,  and  short-waisted, 
and  round-shouldered,  and  thoroughly 
good  and  wise  about  kitchens,  and  nur 
series,  and  cellars,  and  garrets,  and  all 
the  bewildering  train  of  responsibilities 
which  come  under  the  general  name  of 
housekeeper's  duties. 

How  did  I  happen  to  form  that  idea 
of  this  useful  young  lady's  personal  ap- 


16  MY  DAUGHTEB   SUSAN. 

pearance?  Well,  really  now,  I  hardly 
know.  Why  is  it  that  when  one  hears 
of  a  thoroughly  efficient  young  woman, 
one  instinctively  has  an  idea  of  a  rather 
ungraceful,  untasteful,  shy,  silent  crea 
ture  ?  I  wonder  if  it  can  be  because 
our  pretty,  graceful,  tasteful,  talkative 
girls,  are  not  inclined  to  be  efficient 
about  useful  things  ? 

Miss  Susan's  very  name  impressed 
me;  had  it  been  Evelyn,  or  Alice,  or 
had  it  been  Mamie,  or  Fannie,  or  even 
Susie,  I  should  perhaps  have  gotten  a 
different  idea ;  but  the  round,  solid,  un 
compromising  sound  of  "  Susan  "  I  found 
left  its  impression. 

My   meditations  were    broken    in   upon 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  17 

by  the  sound  of  Mrs.  Carleton's  voice 
with  a  touch  of  motherly  pride  in  it, 
as  she  introduced :  "  my  daughter  Susan." 
Round-shouldered,  and  short- waisted !  — 
the  lady  who  turned  quickly  from  the 
re-disposal  of  some  dish  and  gave  me 
cordial  greeting,  was  shapely  enough,  and 
graceful  enough,  even  in  the  plainness 
of  her  morning  dress,  to  have  graced 
her  mother's  elegant  parlor  instead  of 
her  kitchen.  I  noticed  her  nose  at  once; 
I  always  do,  why,  it  would  perhaps  be 
difficult  to  tell ;  but  there  wasn't  the 
slightest  touch  of  pug  to  it,  and  she  had 
those  clear  strong  eyes,  of  a  peculiar 
shade  of  brown,  that  indicate  strength 
and  sweetness. 


18  MY  DAUGHTEK   SUSAtf. 

From   that    introduction,  "  my  daughter 

Susan  "    became    a   curious   study   to  me, 

"and    it   is    certain    little    outgrowths   from 

that   study,   which    I   wish   to   present   to 

you. 

•  I  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  na 
ture  had  intended  the  young  lady  for 
a  leader,  that  she  could  influence  minds 
with  which  she  came  in  contact,  by  the 
force  of  her  stronger  will.  Such  being 
the  case,  the  important  question  was : 
how  did  she  please  to  influence  those 
minds?  I  studied  her  to  try  to  discover. 

Her  wonderful  executive  ability  was 
another  element  that  gave  her  power. 
She  could  accomplish  more  in  one  day 
than  any  other  woman  that  I  ever  knew. 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  19 

Watching  her,  it  appeared  that  half  the 
secret  lay  in  her  habit  of  planning  ahead. 
She  carried  out  a  half  dozen  schemes 
at  once.  This  faculty  shone  conspicu 
ously  in  all  the  minor  household  duties 
which  fell  to  her  lot.  Did  she  have 
occasion  to  go  up  to  her  mother's  room, 
it  seemed  to  flash  upon  her  that  she 
should  pass  the  jelly  closet  on  her  way, 
and  that  certain  jellies  would  be  needed 
for  dinner,  and  that  the  linen  closet 
was  just  across  the  hall,  and  piles  of 
clean  table  drapery  lay  ready  to  be  sent 
there,  which  might  as  well  go  then; 
and  a  book  that  her  mother  would  be 
inquiring  for,  was  on  the  parlor  table, 
she  would  just  take  it  along.  And  little 


20  MY   DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

Ted's  tin  horse  she  noticed  on  a  shelf 
in  the  back  kitchen ;  he  would  be  sure 
to  want  it,  she  would  step  there,  and 
take  it  up  to  him.  Thus  her  one  journey 
accomplished  half  a  dozen  errands,  and 
her  descent  was  equally  triumphal.  After 
a  few  days  of  careful  watching,  it  ceased 
to  be  a  wonder  to  me,  that  everybody 
in  that  house,  from  the  father,  down  to 
young  Tim,  the  errand  boy,  called  after, 
depended  upon,  and  quoted,  "  my  daugh 
ter  Susan.1' 

One  well  remembered  day,  several 
things  happened  to  make  the  peculiar 
traits  of  this  young  lady  shine  out  with 
remarkable  clearness. 

Of   the   events   of   that   day,  you   shall 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  21 

have  a  brief  history.  It  was  a  long  day, — 
in  fact,  it  began  the  evening  before; 
my  family  being  absent,  I  was  invited 
to  spend  the  time  with  my  friend.  On 
the  morning  after  my  arrival  at  the 
Carleton  homestead  as  I  made  my  toilet, 
I  remember  wondering  how  Miss  Susan 
would  look  in  a  morning  wrapper,  and 
if  her  hair  would  be  in  crimps,  or  how? 
I  went  down-stairs  early,  and  quietly, 
knowing  that  my  habits  were  earlier 
than  my  friend's,  and  fearing  lest  I 
might  disturb  others  of  the  family,  but 
Miss  Susan  was  in  the  back  parlor,  all 
the  windows  open,  a  gay  handkerchief 
tied  over  her  head,  and  a  duster  in  her 
hand. 


22  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

"  I'm  almost  through,"  she  said,  greet 
ing  me  with  a  sunny  smile,  "  and  I'll 
give  you  a  comfortable  spot  in  two 
minutes ;  I'm  belated  this  morning." 

"You  are  dressed  for  the  street,"  I 
said  in  an  inquiring  tone,  as  I  noticed 
her  trim  walking  suit.  "  If  it  is  for  a 
morning  walk,  may  I  accompany  you?" 

She  laughed  gaily.  "  I  must  see  to 
the  cakes,  and  the  beefsteak,  I  am  afraid 
instead  of  walking  out  for  my  health. 
Irish  Nellie  doesn't  succeed  in  quite 
meeting  father's  ideas  as  yet,  in  regard 
to  those  two  items,  though  I  have 
hopes  of  her.  However  I  presume  I 
shall  go  soon  after  breakfast;  something 
generally  occurs  to  send  me  out,  of  a 


PLANNING    A  CAMPAIGN.  23 

morning;  I  am  errand  girl  in  general 
for  this  establishment.  You  are  looking 
inquiringly  at  my  street  dress ;  I  long 
ago  gave  up  the  practice  of  wearing 
wrappers ;  it  required  too  many  dressings." 

"  Did  you  give  up  the  crimping  pins 
for  the  same  reason  ? "  I  asked  her,  a:s 
she  untied  and  shook  out  the  gay  hand 
kerchief,  and  I  saw  that  her  hair  was 
neatly  and  smoothly  coiled. 

"  Well,  yes ;  "  she  answered  brightly ; 
"  at  least,  I  don't  indulge  in  them  very 
often ;  they  are  a  sort  of  luxury  that  I 
keep  for  great  occasions ;  father  thinks 
them  so  very  unbecoming,  in  the  chrys 
alis  state,  you  know,  and  one  likes  to 
appear  well  before  one's  father'' 


24  MY  DAUGHTEE   SUSAN. 

We  were  just  wp  from  breakfast,  when 
the  door  bell  gave  a  quick,  sharp  ring, 
and  a  young  gentleman  was  ushered 
into  the  sitting-room.  He  had  inquired 
for  Miss  Susan,  and  she  was  promptly 

forthcoming;  a  large  bib  apron  of  neu 
tral  tinted  calico,  which  protected  her 
dress,  not  having  been  removed. 

"  Good  morning,  Frank,"  she  greeted 
him,  genially ;  and  then,  as  if  time  pressed : 
"  Is  everything  right  for  this  evening  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly ; "  he  answered,  with  a 
nervous  little  laugh ;  "  on  the  contrary, 
I  am  in  the  mood  to  feel  that  every 
thing  is  wrong;  I  don't  know  what  you 
will  say  to  it;  they  have  ordered  wines, 
among  their  refreshments." 


Miss  Carleton  mused.   — Page  27. 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  27 

"Indeed!   who   has?" 

"  Well,  young  Saunders  and  Mr.  Tem- 
pleton  are  the  leaders;  I  learned  of  it 
by  accident,  and  it  is,  or  was  the  in 
tention  to  keep  the  matter  quiet  from 
some  of  us." 

Miss  Carleton  mused;  her  brown  eyes 
seemed  browner  and  larger  than  ever; 
she  picked  a  bit  of  paper  into  tiny  bits, 
while  she  thought,  and  then,  when  ready 
to  speak,  threw  them  energetically  into 
the  grate.  "  Frank  let's  consider  our 
selves  insulted." 

"  Which  will  require  no  very  great 
strength  of  the  imagination ; "  he  an 
swered  quickly ;  "  I  am  sure  I  feel  so ;  but 
the  question  is,  what  can  we  do  about  it  ?  " 


28  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

"  The  first  thing  that  occurs  to  me, 
is,  something  that  we  wont  do.  We 
won't  go,  shall  we  ? " 

"  Why,  if  you  say  not ;  but  can  you 
manage  that  ?  Aren't  you  pledged  to  sus 
tain  the  entertainment  ? " 

"  By  no  manner  of  means,  am  I," 
with  a  quick  flash  from  the  brown  eyes, 
"  my  acceptance  of  the  invitation  was 
under  the  supposition  that  the  inviters 
were  gentlemen,  this  proves  to  be  a 
mistake." 

"  My  daughter !  "  interposed  the  mother's 
expostulating  voice, — "  Isn't  that  being 

a   little    too   severe  ? " 

"  I    don't    see    that    it    is,   mother ;    in 

these    times,    and    especially   when    some 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  29 

of  the  invited  guests  are  known  to  have 
taken  very  strong  ground  in  regard  to 
the  use  of  liquors,  to  produce  them  for 
entertainment  seems  to  me  not  much 
short  of  insult." 

"  But,  my  dear,  could  you  not  hope 
to  make  a  change  in  the  programme 
of  refreshments  ?  Is  that  matter  beyond 
your  control  ?  " 

"  It  does  not  come  within  our  line 
of  work,  mother ;  and  indeed  if  we 
could,  by  special  petition,  succeed  in 
prevailing  on  the  gentlemen  to  show 
ordinary  courtesy  to  us,  I  don't  think 
we  are  either  of  us  in  the  mood  to 
petition.  We  would  rather  show  that 
we  believe  ourselves  to  have  been  dis- 


30  MY   DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

courteously  treated.   Am  I  right,  Frank? " 

"  Of  course  you  are ;  you  always  are, 
for  that  matter ;  and  yet,"  then  he 
hesitated." 

"  Well,  and  yet,  what  ?  You  see 
trouble  in  the  distance,  what  is  it?" 

"  Why,  I  see  those  for  whom  we  are 
just  now  specially  anxious,  led  into 
mischief  with  this  thing.  Led  farther, 
because,  you,  for  instance,  are  not  to  be 
there  to  help  them." 

"  That    is    it,"   chimed    in    the   mother. 
"  By   making   an    effort   to   have    the    ob 
jectionable     feature    removed,    you     save 
some,   or   at   least   you    have    the    oppor 
tunity    to    try   to    save     some,   who    are 


PLANNING    A  CAMPAIGN.  31 

perhaps,   too   weak   to   resist    temptation; 
don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  Mother,  I  don't  see.  If  this  were 
the  only  party  we  need  expect  for  the 
entire  season,  and  a  successful  effort  to 
suppress  wine,  or  champaigne,  or  any 
other  of  the  forms  which  the  creature 
takes  —  How  many  shapes  does  it  ap 
pear  in,  Frank  ? —  would  suppress  it  for 
the  entire  season,  your  suggestion  would 
be  better;  but  dorit  you  both  see  that 
showing  our  willingness  to  be  counted 
in  with  such  company,  and  honor  their 
invitations,  provided  they  will  not  use 
liquors  in  our  presence,  enters  no  protest 
against  their  doing  it  on  any  of  the 
hundreds  of  occasions  when  we  are  ab- 


32  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

sent  ?  What  I  want,  is,  to  show  Mr. 
Saunders  and  Mr.  Templeton  and  others 
of  their  stamp,  that  we  propose  to  asso 
ciate  with  gentlemen? 

"  I  see  your  point,"  said  the  young 
gentleman.  "  But  Susan,  I  am  tremb 
ling  for  Charlie  Davis  and  Leonard 
Burton  and  half  a  dozen  others;  Fred 
Harrison  for  instance,  perhaps  more  than 
any  of  them.  What  can  we  do  ? " 

Miss  Susan  chewed  thoughtfully  at 
the  end  of  the  lead  pencil  in  her 
mouth,  and  tried  in  an  absent  way  to 
fit  her  toe  to  one  of  the  triangles  of 
the  carpet,  and  said  nothing;  while  the 
young  man  watched  her,  as  though  she 
had  been  the  President,  and  he  was 


PLANNING   A  CAMPAIGN.  33 

awaiting  an  appointment.  As  for  the 
mother,  she  regarded  her  daughter  with 
a  half-anxious,  half-proud  air,  and  then 
turning  to  me  said  in  a  sort  of  apologiz 
ing  tone :  "  The  child  does  go  to 
such  lengths !  one  never  knows  what 
to  expect  next." 

At  last  Miss  Susan  looked  up  with 
a  bright  flash  of  triumph  in  her  eyes. 
"  Frank,"  she  said,  "  can't  we  be  re 
venged  on  them  for  spoiling  our  pleas 
ure  in  this  inconsiderate  way  ?  Suppose 
we  break  up  the  party  for  them,  and 
preach  an  excellent  sermon  on  temper 
ance  thereby." 

"  How  ?  " 

"  Oh,    in    a  dozen   ways.      I   think   of 


34  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

seven  young  men,  most  of  them  in 
danger,  whom  I  believe  I  can  pledge 
to  write  notes  of  declinature;  not  only 
that,  but  I  believe  they  will  state  why 
they  decline.  Now  of  course  that  rather 
depends  on  whether  you  will  be  respon 
sible  for  as  many  young  ladies ;  you  are 
equal  to  seven  young  ladies,  aren't  you, 
Frank?" 

The  dismayed  look  on  the  said 
Frank's  face,  caused  Miss  Susan  to  break 
into  a  merry  laugh ;  which,  however,  she 
checked  almost  immediately  as  she  said: 
"  I  assure  you  I  don't  feel  like  laughing. 
I  am  indignant!  The  idea,  that  we, 
just  after  the  temperance  movement 
here,  and  the  stand  that  we  have  taken, 


PLANNING    A   CAMPAIGN.  35 

should  appear  to  be  made  party  to  such 
proceedings  as  this  ! " 

"  I  know  it.  But  Susan  do  you  be. 
lieve  your  plan  will  succeed?  gentlemen 
are  sensitive  where  their  invitations  to 
special  ladies  are  concerned;  and  besides, 
some  of  those  who  are  most  in  danger, 
will  take  offense  the  quickest  at  the 
thought  that  they  are  not  strong  enough 
to  withstand  a  whole  avalanche  of  temp 
tation.  Are  you  sure  you  can  accomplish 
this  thing,  if  you  undertake  it?" 

"  No,"  she  answered,  in  perfect  good- 
humor.  "  Not  at  all ;  I  don't  know 
whether  it  will  work,  or  not;  and  what  is 
more,  I  never  shall  know  until  I  try. 
There  has  many  a  thing  been  accom- 


36  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

plished  in  this  world,  that  never  would 
have  been,  had  people  settled  it  in  their 
minds  that  it  couldn't  be  done,  before 
they  had  made  vigorous  efforts  to  do  it. 
What  I  am  sure  of,  is,  that  I  mean  to 
try.  Now,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Go  ahead,  general,"  he  said  with  a 
queer  smile  on  his  face,  "  I'm  your  obe 
dient  servant." 

Before  the  two  parted,  Miss  Susan  had 
made  out  a  list  of  names  for  each  of 
them.  Names  of  persons  who  were  to  be 
influenced,  if  possible,  to  withdraw  their 
acceptance  of  invitations  to  an  entertain 
ment  gotten  up  by  the  young  gentlemen 
of  the  rival  literary  society. 


CHAPTER    II. 

OUT  ON  DUTY. 

OU  are  an  intense  temperance 
woman,  I  see  ;  "  I  said,  smiling  on 
Miss  Susan,  as  having  laid  aside  her 
bib-apron  she  made  ready  for  a  walk. 

"  No  ma'am,  I'm  not.  I'm  simply  rea 
sonable.  I  don't  know  that  I  feel  more 
intense  about  temperance  matters,  or  at 
least  that  I  exhibit  any  more  zeal  about 

37 


38  MY  DAtJGHTEE  SUSAN. 

them,  than  I  do  about  the  clothes  I  shall 
wear,  or  a  dozen  other  things  that  might 
be  mentioned.  There  are  a  great  many 
duties  which  take  time,  and  planning,  and 
trouble.  Can't  you  go  down  town  with 
me?  mother  is  to  be  engaged  with  the 
dressmaker,  and  the  morning  is  lovely 
for  a  walk." 

As  this  was  precisely  what  I  wanted ; 
namely,  to  see  what  Miss  Susan  would 
do  next,  and  how  she  would  do  it,  I  was 
prompt  in  my  acceptance.  The  same 
characteristics  which  marked  her  move 
ments  from  room  to  room,  attended  the 
preparation  for  this  walk. 

"Mother,"  she  called  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs,  "  I  shall  have  to  pass  Mrs 


She  caught  up  little  Faye  for  a  parting  kiss.  —Page  41. 


OUT  ON   DUTY.  41 

Seymour's,  while  I  am  down  town;  do 
you  want  that  pattern  returned  ? " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  daughter,"  came  the 
gratefully  toned  answer  from  her  mother's 
room.  "  I  am  very  glad  you  thought 
of  it." 

Then  Miss  Susan  put  her  head  in  at 
the  door  of  the  sewing-room: 

"  Miss  Perry,  I  have  to  go  down  town ; 
do  you  want  me  to  match  the  silk  you 
spoke  of  ? " 

"  Oh,  yes,  if  you  will  be  so  kind," 
was  the  grateful  answer. 

On  her  way  up-stairs  she  caught  up 
little  Faye  for  a  parting  kiss,  and  whis 
pered  that  "  sister  had  the  dolly's  mea 
sure  and  was  going  to  stop  and 


42  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

have  some  kid  slippers  cut  this  very 
morning." 

When  we  were  fairly  started,  I  noticed 
that  she  had  a  tiny  bouquet  of  home- 
blossomed  flowers  in  her  hand. 

"  I'm  just  going  to  call  at  Mrs.  Smith's 
door  with  these,  she  said;  she  is  sick, 
you  know,  and  she  is  a  great  lover  of 
sweet  smelling  flowers." 

Now  Mrs.  Smith  was  the  wife  of  a 
reformed  drunkard  who  lived  in  a  cer 
tain  little  tumble-down  house,  down  a 
certain  narrow  lane  of  the  city.  We  were 
but  a  few  squares  from  the  Carleton  home 
stead,  when  my  young  lady  halted  with  a 
cheery  smile  and  bow,  having  previously 
made  hurried  explanation  to  me. 


OUT    ON    DUTY.  43 

"  There  is  Charlie  Davis !  how  fortu 
nate,  I  expected  to  have  gone  half  a  mile 
out  of  my  way  to  see  him." 

"  Good  morning  Charlie,  you  are  just 
the  person  I  want  to  see ;  I  need  you 
to  help  me  be  indignant." 

"  What's   up  ?  "  asked    Charlie. 

"  You  haven't  heard  then?  I  don't 
believe  you  could  guess." 

And  there  followed  a  rapid  explanation 
as  to  the  new  developments  connected 
with  the  proposed  entertainment.  Miss 
Susan  talked  eagerly,  throwing  anima 
tion  and  indignation  into  her  tones,  and 
closed  with :  "  Did  you  ever  hear  of 
treating  ladies  in  that  manner,  I  con 
sider  myself  personally  insulted." 


44  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

"  Oh,  but  I  am  sure  nothing  was  further 
from  their  intentions." 

It  was  Charlie's  turn  to  be  eager  now, 
something  in  his  tone  and  manner  mak 
ing  me  feel  almost  certain  that  he  was 
not  hearing  of  the  plan  for  the  first  time. 

"  It  is  greatly  to  be  deplored  then,  that 
their  acts  should  have  fallen  so  far  be 
low  their  intentions." 

This  was  Miss  Susan's  quick  response, 
given  in  a  tone  slightly  tinged  with 
sarcasm. 

Charlie  essayed  to  explain. 

"  Well,  now  you  know  there  are  al 
ways  some  who  must  have  their  taste 
of  such  things,  or  they  think  they  are 
not  having  refreshments  at  all;  but  I 


OUT   ON  DUTY.  45 

can  assure  you  that  it  will  not  be  pro 
duced  in  a  manner  that  will  be  in  the 
least  offensive  to  the  ladies." 

"  No,  Charlie !  certainly  I  didn't  know 
any  such  thing.  I  mean  of  course  among 
the  gentlemen  with  whom  we  associate.  I 
hope  I  do  not  number  among  my  friends, 
any  who  consider  liquors  a  necessity  to 
their  proper  entertainment,  because  then 
of  course  I  could  never  entertain  them. 
However,  there  will  be  no  danger  of  any 
insult  being  offered  to  me  this  evening; 
I  shall  take  care  not  to  put  myself  in 
a  position  where  that  would  be  possible." 

"  Miss  Susan  you  surely  are  not  going 
to  withdraw  your  acceptance !  the  com 
mittee  depend  upon  you." 


46  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

"  They  are  very  foolish.  I  don't  see 
how  they  can  expect  my  presence  in 
the  face  of  these  developments.  Charlie, 
is  it  possible  that  you  will  attend !  Do 
you  mean  to  insult  your  temperance  prin 
ciples  in  that  way?  I  didn't  think  it 
of  you." 

Charlie  began  to  look  very  much  em 
barrassed. 

"  Well,  you  know,"  he  said  slowly, 
"  there  is  a  lady  in  the  case,  I  can 
hardly  do  otherwise." 

"  You  can  hardly  do  otherwise  than  to 
give  her  a  chance  to  escape  an  unlady 
like  position.  I  hope  you  don't  consider 
my  friend  Allie  the  sort  of  lady  who 
would  like  to  have  her  name  associated 


OUT  ON    DUTY.  47 

with  anything  so  questionable  ?  Why, 
I  thought  you  would  resent  it  on  her 
account.  Gentlemen  have  strange  ideas 
of  ladies,  it  seems." 

Charlie's    face   grew   momently   longer. 

"Do  you  really  think  that  Alice  will 
regard  it  in  that  light  ? "  he  asked, 
doubtfully.  "  You  know  you  are  —  well 
now,  Miss  Susan,  you  are  perhaps,  just 
a  trifle  extreme  on  that  point.  I  don't 
think  Alice  would  mind,  so  long  as 
the  thing  wasn't  of  my  planning." 

"Try  her,"  replied  Miss  Susan,  with 
a  sagacious  nod  of  her  shapely  head. 
"  If  you  and  she  when  you  talk  the  mat 
ter  over  together,  don't  come  to  the 
same  conclusion  that  I  have,  why  I 


48  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

shall  be  very  much  disappointed  in  you 
both;  that  is  all." 

"  Is  your  friend  Alice  so  decidedly  in 
sympathy  with  you  that  she  is  ready 
to  give  up  a  party  for  the  cause  ?  "  I 
asked,  as  we  bowed  our  adieus  to  Charlie, 
and  passed  on. 

"  She  is,  by  this  time ;  that  is,  if  Frank 
Holden  has  seen  her,  as  I  sincerely 
hope  and  trust  he  has ;  I  asked  him  to 
make  his  first  call  on  her.  She  is  one 
of  those  pretty,  softly,  little  ladies,  hav 
ing  no  idea  of  deciding  a  question  for 
herself.  She  always  has  some  one  in 
view  whom  she  determines  shall  act  as 
her  conscience  for  the  time  being;  and 
just  at  present  I  occupy  that  impor- 


She    is  one  of  those  pretty,   softly,  little  ladies.    — Page  48. 


OUT   ON    DUTY.  49 

tant  post  *,  so  when  she  hears  of  my 
decision,  she  will  be  as  staunch  a  lit 
tle  temperance  woman  as  one  need 
desire." 

At  this  point,  Miss  Susan  drew  a 
quick  little  sigh. 

"  Oh   dear   me  !  "  she   said : 

"  If  girls  would  only  take  strong 
ground  on  this  subject  and  keep  it,  I 
believe  we  could  reform  the  world.  Why, 
just  look  at  it,  every  woman  owns  a 
little  piece  of  the  world;  /  do,  so  does 
everybody,  why  cant  each  one  look  out 
for  her  own  little  corner  ? " 

46  But   what   could    they   do?" 

<c  Do !  dear  me  !  First,  there  are  things 
that  I  want  them  to  stop  doing.  I 


50  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

want  the  daughters  all  over  the  world 
to  join  hands,  and  say  they  will  not  — 
they  absolutely  will  not  walk,  ride, 
talk,  with  a  man  who  buys  or  sells,  or 
votes  for  the  sale  of  anything  that  will 
intoxicate.  I  want  them  to  stick  to 
this  position,  in  the  face  of  all  oppo 
sition  ;  all  roughness,  and  coarseness, 
about  '  petticoat  government,'  or  '  leading 
strings,'  or  '  old  maid  warnings.'  We 
have  had  isolated  and  spasmodic  action 
in  this  direction,  but  if  we  could  have 
a  banded-together,  a  concerted  action  all 
over  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time 
be  working  with  a  will  for  the  refor 
mation  of  the  poor  fellows  who  are 
trying  to  be  men,  don't  you  see  that 


OUT   ON  DUTY.  51 

in  time  there  would  have  to  be  results  ? " 
"  In  other  words,  don't  I  see  that 
the  young  ladies  very  largely  control 
the  young  men  of  this  world?  Yes, 
practically  I  think  they  do,  or  could. 
But  have  you  any  hope  of  enlisting  a 
large  number  of  young  ladies  under 
your  banner  ? " 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  I  don't  know ;  I 
hope  a  great  deal,  and  work  towards 
my  aim  all  the  time,  and  rejoice  over 
every  new  recruit,  and  believe  that  — " 
At  this  point  we  were  interrupted; 
being  met  by  apparently  a  most  thor 
oughly  finished  gentleman;  at  least,  so 
far  as  dress,  and  air,  and  bow  were 
concerned ;  he  almost  halted  before  us 


52  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

as  one  who  would  not  be  at  all  averse 
to  other  than  the  ordinary  passing  greet 
ings,  and  his  tone  was  suavity  itself,  as 
he  bowed  his  "good  morning,  Miss 
Carleton." 

Miss  Carleton  paused  in  the  midst  of 
her  sentence  to  me,  raised  her  clear 
strong  eyes,  looked  the  gentleman  fully 
in  the  face,  and  walked  past  him  with 
head  erect  and  not  the  movement  of 
a  muscle. 

"  Wasn't  that  Senator  Grainger's  son  ?" 
I  asked,  amazed  at  so  complete  an  ig 
noring  of  his  presence. 

"  Yes'm  it  was ;  and  a  .man  capable 
of  greater  meanness  I  do  not  know  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Only  last  even- 


Teasing  and  tantalizing.  —  Page  55. 


OTTT  OK  DUTY.  55 

ing  I  heard  of  his  telling  with  much 
laughter,  how  poor  Timmy  Baker  had 
signed  the  pledge  for  the  thirteenth 
time,  and  how  he  laid  a  wager  with 
Dick  Morris,  that  Timmy  would  break 
his  thirteenth  pledge  all  to  pieces  be 
fore  he  reached  home,  and  then  the  in 
teresting  story  was  told  of  their  following 
him  to  the  nearest  corner-grocery, .  and 
teasing  and  tantalizing  the  weak,  liquor- 
crazed  brain,  until  he  took  just  one  sip 
to  please  them,  and  went  home  *  as  glori 
ously  drunk  as  possible ! '  That  is  the 
way  in  which  the  refined  account  conclu 
ded.  That  man  to  have  the  impudence 
to  bow  to  me !  I  wouldn't  speak  to 
him  if  he  were  the  President  of  the 


56  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

United  States,  and  I  was  to  be  hanged 
to-morrow  unless  I  asked  him  for  a 
pardon !  I  despise  the  man,  and  wher 
ever  and  whenever  I  can  show  him 
that  I  do,  I  mean  to." 

"  But  is  that  spirit  in  accordance 
with  the  charity  which  is  long  suffer 
ing,  which  *  hopeth  all  things,'  and  *  en- 
dureth  all  things,'  my  hot-hearted  young 
lady?" 

"  Oh,  now,  dear  madam,  I  give  you 
credit  for  greater  sense  than  to  suppose 
you  mean  a  word  of  that.  There  has 
been  a  sickly  sentimentality  of  that 
sort  talked  until  I  know  it  by  heart, 
and  have  as  little  patience  with  it,  as 
with  any  form  of  the  non-temperance 


OUT  ON   DUTY.  57 

disease.  In  point  of  fact,  you  and  I 
know,  that  Senator  Grainger's  son  is 
not  being  ruined  by  lack  of  charity; 
he  is  much  more  likely  to  be  ruined 
by  thinking  that  he  is  such  an  irresis- 
table  fellow  that  nobody  can  withstand 
him.  I  believe  in  charity,  of  the  sort 
too,  which  '  suffereth  long,'  and  I  know 
some  sorrowful  drunkards'  wives  and 
daughters  who  are  living  it.  But  there 
is  a  spurious  kind  that  can  be  mis- 
talked,  as  well  as  misplaced.  Look  at 
Mr.  Grainger  now,  across  the  street; 
that  is  Miss  Harper  he  has  joined, 
and  she  is  simpering  with  him,  show 
ing  herself  flattered  by  his  attentions, 
and  he  is  leading  her  brother  right 


58  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

straight  down  to  the  gutter!  On  the 
whole,  when  I  see  such  women  as 
Miss  Harper,  I  am  for  about  five  min 
utes  discouraged." 

"  Why  good  morning,  Mr.  Miller ;  I 
am  glad  to  see  you  out  again," 

Miss  Susan  paused  suddenly,  stretch 
ing  forth  a  neatly-gloved  hand  to  grasp 
a  somewhat  rough  one,  ornamented  with 
a  frayed  cuff  and  seedy  coat  sleeve. 
There  followed  a  few  minutes  of  pleas 
ant  talk,  she  stopping  on  the  corner 
for  the  purpose.  She  inquired  for  his 
mother,  and  his  sister,  and  as  to  whether 
he  was  strong  enough  for  business, 
and  finally  said : 

"  Mr.   Miller    I    have    been    looking  for 


• 


"Good  morning,  Mr.  Miller." —  /V^v?  58. 


OUT  ON    DUTY.  61 

a  call  from  you ;  haven't  you  made  any 
calls  since  your  illness  ? " 

He  stammered  an  unintelligible  reply, 
and  she  gaily  added : 

"  Remember,  I'm  not  a  friend  of  yours, 
a  real  good  hearty  one  you  know,  until 
you  call  at  my  home  expressly  to  see 
me;  we  shall  be  glad  to  welcome  you 
there  on  almost  any  evening." 

As   we   passed   on,    I    said : 

"  If  my  eyes  do  not  strangely  deceive 
me,  that  is  Dick  Miller." 

"  That  is  Dick  Miller,"  Susan  replied, 
with  a  satisfied  air  and  tone ;  "  his  very 
self,  though  he  does  not  look  much  as 
he  used  to." 

"  And    you    stop    on    the    street    and 


62  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

shake  hands  with  him !  and  pass  Sena 
tor  Grainger's  son  without  even  deign 
ing  to  bow!  Well,  Miss  Susan,  I  don't 
know  that  I  have  great  expectations  of 
seeing  the  girls  of  this  world  follow 
your  example ;  why  I  thought  Dick 
Miller  was  pretty  far  down  the  road  to 
the  gutter?" 

"  Didn't  you  see  his  blue  ribbon  ? 
he  has  joined  the  noble  army  of  mar 
tyrs  and  is  fighting,  like  the  brave 
fellow  that  he  is.  Indeed,  I  shake 
hands  with  him  on  all  occasions,  and 
I  am  glad  Mr.  Grainger  was  in  sight 
to  see  me  do  it.  Dick  Miller  has  a 
cordial  invitation  to  my  father's  house, 
and  will  be  welcomed  there  whenever  he 


OUT  ON    DUTY.  63 

chooses  to  call.  And  Mr.  Grainger  will 
be  denied  if  he  attempts  it,  which  he 
will  hardly  do  after  to-day.  I  will  have 
respectable  men  for  my  calling  ac 
quaintances." 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    QUESTION    ARGUED. 

you  believe  also  in  the  blue  rib 
bon  movement  ?  "  I  said  inquiringly, 
as  having  revolved  my  friend's  last  state 
ments  for  a  few  minutes,  I  concluded  I 
would  like  further  light. 

"Oh,  yes,  why   I   believe  in    everything 
that  works    towards  the    end    desired.     I 

joined  the  blue  ribbon  people  with  heart 
64 


THE   QUESTION   ARGUED.  65 

and  hand,  working  with  all  my  might. 
I  am  working  in  that  same  way  now, 
and  mean  to  continue  so  long  as  there 
is  a  yard  of  blue  ribbon  in  the  coun 
try;  or,  what  would  be  better,  so  long 
as  there  is  a  man,  woman  or  child  in 
the  country  whose  name  is  not  on  the 
total  abstinence  pledge." 

"  Perhaps  you  belonged  also  to  the 
woman's  crusade  ? " 

"  Perhaps  I  did,"  she  said,  laughing. 
"  You  would  certainly  have  thought  so 
if  you  could  have  seen  the  crowds  I 
walked  through  and  the  condition  of 
my  dress  when  I  reached  home,  occa 
sionally,  after  a  day's  campaign.  I  was 
in  the  very  thickest  of  it,  I  assure  you." 


66  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAtf. 

"  But,  Susan,  do  you  really  believe 
that  was  the  wisest  way  to  attempt  a 
reform  ? " 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  I  don't  believe  the 
wisest  way  has  ever  been  attempted 
yet.  What  is  more,  I  don't  believe 
anybody  knows  exactly  what  the  wisest 
way  would  be.  There  were  flaws  in 
the  management  of  the  crusade,  and 
there  are  flaws  in  the  Murphy  move 
ment,  and  the  red  ribbon  movement, 
and  every  other  movement.  Dear  me! 
so  there  are  flaws  in  the  management 
of  churches,  and  schools,  and  banks, 
and  benevolent  organizations,  and  house 
holds.  Who  pretends  to  have  found  a 
perfect  way  for  doing  anything?  Yet 


THE    QUESTION  AKGUED.  67 

who  wants  to  give  up  living;  or  to  lie 
down  in  a  corner  and  groan  over  the 
flaws,  and  wait  until  he  finds  perfection 
before  he  labors  ?  I  arr  real  tired  of 
the  people  who,  while  professing  to  be 
friends  of  the  temperance  cause,  spend 
their  strength  in  crying  out  against 
everything  that  has  been  attempted,  and 
yet  take  no  pains  to  enlighten  us  as 
to  a  better  way.  If  somebody  will 
present  a  plan  promising  better  results 
than  any  that  has  ever  been  tried,  I'll 
join  his  ranks  and  follow  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  or  the  ends  of  this  city,  any 
way.  I'm  not  an  advocate  for  any  spe 
cial  way.  I  have  signed  at  least  a  hundred 
temperance  pledges  since  I  was  born,  and 


68  .  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

I  presume  I  shall  sign  a  hundred  more. 
I  don't  care  how  often  my  name  ap 
pears  in  such  a  connection.  I  wear  a 
blue  ribbon  on  my  watch  chain,  and  a 
white  one  on  my  muff,  or  fan,  or 
whatever  happens  to  be  convenient.  I'm 
a  crusader,  and  a  no-license  woman, 
and  I  will  be  a  voter,  on  that  subject 
at  least,  if  I  ever  get  a  chance.  I'm 
anything,  and  everything;  let  us  all 
work,  I  say,  towards  the  best  that  we 
know  how,  and  some  good  will  come  of 
it.  When  I  can't  have  a  thing  as  I 
want  it,  I  come  just  as  near  to  it  as  I 
possibly  can,  and  go  ahead." 

All  these     eager     sentences     had     not 
flowed  on  uninterruptedly.     Instead,  Miss 


Mrs.  Smith  detained  her.    — 


THE     QUESTION    ARGUED.  71 

Susan  had  given  sudden  dodges  into 
this  store,  and  around  that  corner,  and 
had  stopped  twice  to  hold  conversations. 
Once  she  said : 

"  Mrs.  Smith's  is  down  this  lane,  I'll 
just  run  down  there  and  leave  my 
'  posey.' " 

And  Mrs.  Smith  detained  her  to  be 
grateful,  and  cry  a  little,  and  to  say 
that: 

"John  held  out  yet,  but  was  out  of 
work,  and  she  was  afraid ! " 

"  Out  of  work,  is  he  ?  How  does  that 
happen  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  see,  ma'am,  Mr.  Jenkins 
had  him  for  workman  down  at  the  dis 
tillery;  and  he  said  John  talked  too 


72  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

much  whine  about  the  pledge  and  wasted 
his  time,  he  couldn't  have  no  such 
goings  on  about  him,  so  he  discharged 
him  out  and  out.  But  that  was  only 
an  excuse  ma'am;  John  didn't  waste  his 
time,  he  has  been  that  faithful  that  he 
has  done  overwork  many  a  night;  and 
everything  he  did  was  to  labor  to  get 
the  men  to  sign,  and  to  vote  the  no-li 
cense  ticket.  That's  everything  in  life, 
ma'am,  that  he  is  turned  off  for." 
Miss  Susan's  face  darkened : 
"  So  he  is  '  persecuted  for  righteous 
ness  sake,'  is  he?  Tell  him  the  Mas 
ter's  direction  is,  to  '  rejoice  and  be  ex 
ceeding  glad,'  meantime  he  musn't  be 
kept  out  of  work.  Just  ask  him  to  call 


A  gay-looking  young   man.    —Page  75. 


THE    QUESTION    AEGUED.  75 

at  my  father's  at  six  this  evening,  will 
you  ?  I  may  have  a  message  for  him." 

And  receiving  Mrs.  Smith's  profuse  and 
tearful  thanks,  we  left  her  and  picked 
our  way  out  of  her  lane,  coming  in  con 
tact  at  the  corner  with  a  gay-looking 
young  man,  whom  my  friend  promptly 
stopped. 

"  Fred,  have  you  heard  the  latest  item 
of  interest  in  the  Delta  society  ? " 

Then  followed  a  rapid  explanation  of 
the  proposed  addition  to  the  evening's 
entertainment,  closing  with  an  eager: 

"  Fred,  isn't  this  a  capital  opportunity 
to  show  those  people  that  we  are  not  to 
be  trifled  with?  I  propose  to  materially 
reduce  their  forces  by  withdrawing  a 


76  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

number   of   their   special    guests;  we   can 
do   it    with   your   help." 

Whereupon,  she  rapidly  detailed  the 
plan ;  throwing  no  little  anxiety  into  the 
closing  question : 

"  Don't  you  believe  it  will  work  ? " 
"  Work  ?  of  course  it  will,  if  we  man 
age  rightly ;  and  it  will  be  rare  fun,  too ; 
I  haven't  heard  of  anything  so  gay  in 
an  age.  77/go  into  it  with  all  my  heart. 
My  friend  Edwards  and  his  two  sisters, 
yes,  and  for  that  matter  their  cousins 
will  draw  off,  if  I  give  them  the  hint; 
they're  ripe  for  fun  any  time.  I'll  tell 
you  what,  Miss  Susan,  suppose  we 
send  in  our  cards  of  regret  at  about 
the  same  hour,  so  as  to  give  them  a 


THE    QUESTION    AKGUED.  77 

regular  broadside,  you  know?  What  fun! 
and  what  idiots  they  were  to  give  us 
such  a  chance  as  this ! " 

"  Has  that  young  man  a  very  clear 
idea  of  the  conscientious  part  of  this 
matter  ? "  I  asked  the  young  general-in- 
chief,  as  these  interesting  details  hav 
ing  been  arranged  with  apparent  glee 
on  both  sides,  we  moved  on. 

She  gave  me  a  somewhat  searching 
glance  before  she  answered;  if  answer 
it  could  be  called. 

"  What  do  you  suppose  St.  Paul  meant 
by  being  '  all  things  to  all  men  ? '  That 
was  Fred  Harrison.  Do  you  remember 
Frank  spoke  of  being  specially  anxious 
for  one  young  man.  This  is  the  one. 


78  ::- 

He  \vculcl  be,  pcrhr.ps,  the  most  sorely 
tempted  to-night,  of  any  of  them ;  for 
the  reason  that  he  really  hasrit  a  large 
amount  of  principle,  and  is  so  easily  led. 
The  predominant  idea  in  his  brain  is 
fun.  If  somebody  prevailed  on  him  to 
think  that  the  very  funniest  thing  he 
could  do  would  be  to  get  intoxicated, 
I'm  afraid  he  would  proceed  to  doing 
it  at  once.  Now,  haven't  I  a  right  to 
appeal  to  the  funny  side  of  his  nature, 
in  order  to  get  his  help,  and  keep  him 
out  of  danger?  The  sort  of  good- 
natured  rivalry  which  has  existed  be 
tween  the  two  societies  for  so  long,  fa 
cilitates  our  plans  wonderfully.  Neither 
Frank  nor  I  care  a  pin's  point  about 


THE     QUESTION   ARGUED.  79 

the  societies,  as  viewed  in  a  literary 
light.  Between  you  and  me  there  isn't 
enough  of  that  element  in  either  of 
them,  to  keep  them  from  sinking.  But 
it  helps  our  influence  over  both  sides, 
to  heartily  '  belong '  when  occasion  re 
quires.  Oh,  I  dare  say  it  isn't  the  best 
way.  Don't  suppose  I  am  going  to 
waste  my  strength  in  championing  it ; 
only,  while  you  are  getting  up  a  better 
way,  I'll  work  at  this,  and  keep  mis 
chief  at  bay  for  this  one  evening,  if  I 
can.  Here  is  Carson's  store ;  I  must 
go  in  and  get  my  dolly's  slippers  cut. 
Should  they  be  red,  do  you  think,  or 
blue,  or  what  ?  " 

The     returning    of     the    pattern,    and 


80  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

the  matching  of  the  silk,  and  several 
errands  growing  out  of  ideas  that  seemed 
to  be  developing  in  Miss  Susan's  mind, 
involved  much  walking,  and  street-car 
riding.  In  one  of  the  cars,  she,  stand 
ing  with  her  hand  hold  of  a  strap,  en 
gaged  in  a  low-toned  conversation  with 
the  driver.  "Don't  talk  of  giving  up,"  I 
heard  her  say,  earnestly.  "  Only  think 
Mr.  Jones  what  that  involves ;  what  there 
is  to  go  back  to.  You  surely  did  not 
enjoy  your  former  life." 

"  No  more  I  did ; "  he  said  drearily ; 
"  but  this  is  an  awful  temptatious  life ; 
hard  to  live;  it's  amazing  hard  to  be 
fighting  yourself  all  the  time,  ma'am." 

"  Indeed,  it  is.      You    need    a    helper. 


"Don't  talk  of  giving  up."  —  Page  80. 


THE  QUESTION  AEGUEt).  83 

It  is  so  foolish  in  you  to  persist  in 
fighting  the  battle  all  alone;  when  one 
who  is  '  mighty  to  save,'  stands  ready, 
waiting.  When  you  will  enlist  under 
my  captain  and  have  him  pledged  to 
stand  by  you  every  moment,  every  mo 
ment,  remember,  you  will  find  that 
more  than  half  the  fight  is  over." 

"  Humph !  "  said  the  poor  fellow,  with 
a  sort  of  half-despairing  doggedness  com 
ing  over  his  face:  "Why  don't  he  help 
me  if  he  can,  and  wants  to?" 

"  Mr.  Jones,"  she  said,  bending  nearer, 
and  speaking  in  that  peculiar,  low,  force 
ful  tone  which  carries  weight  with  it: 
"  You  say  I  have  helped  you  a  little ; 
could  I  have  done  it  if  you  had  not 


84  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

been  willing  to  accept  my  help?  Could 
I  have  forced  it  upon  you,  against 
your  willt  " 

A  gleam  of  intelligence  lighted  the 
heavy  face  as  he  said  with  some  de 
gree  of  heartiness: 

"That's  true  enough,  ma'am;  no  more 
you  couldn't." 

As  we  were  about  to  leave  the  car, 
the  young  lady  drew  from  her  pocket 
a  slip  of  paper  on  which  were  a  few 
printed  words;  she  handed  it  to  him, 
with  a  bow  and  smile. 

"  Was   that  a   talisman  ? "    I  asked  her. 

"  An  invitation,"  she  said,  •  brightly. 
"  Will  you  have  one  ? "  And  she  gave 
me  a  duplicate  paper.  It  read :  "  Gos- 


THE    QUESTION  ABGUED.  85 

pel  Temperance  Meeting,  City  Hall, 
Tuesday  evening.  Good  speakers;  good 
music.  Help  for  the  tempted !  Hope  for 
the  discouraged  !  Will  you  come  ?  " 

"  Do  they   come  ?  "    I  askf  d   her. 

"  Scores  of  them,  hundreds  of  them. 
Poor  fellows !  little  we  know  what  they 
have  to  withstand.  Look  at  that  man ! " 

We  had  suddenly  gotten  ourselves 
very  near  to  a  crowd  of  men ;  many 
of  whom  looked  rough  enough,  though 
some  were  respectably  dressed,  and  bore 
about  them  an  air  of  superiority.  We 
could  hear  touches  of  their  conversation, 
or  their  urgings,  for  one  man  seemed 
to  be  the  centre. 

"Oh    now,     John,    what's    the    u^?  " 


86  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

said  one,  "  You  will  never  keep  it  in 
the  world.  A  free  life  and  a  merry 
one,  is  my  motto." 

"  He'll  get  no  work ! "  shouted  another, 
"unless  he  votes  the  license  ticket. 
There's  a  lot  of  them  fellows,  and  they 
are  in  dead  earnest,  I  tell  you.  I  heard 
say,  they  swore  not  a  fellow  as  voted 
agin  'em  should  have  a  day's  work  in 
this  town." 

"  Lots  of  whiskey,  John,  if  you  vote 
for  'em,"  wheezed  the  lowest,  most  repul 
sive  looking  man  in  the  crowd. 

"They'll  treat  all  day,  and  it  will  be 
as  free  as  water ;  —  starvation  if  you 
don't,  you  know.  Come,  make  up  your 
mind  to  let  the  pledge  go;  bad  luck 


Lots  of  whiskey,  John,  if  you  vote  for  "em."—  Page  86. 


THE    QUESTION    ARGUED.  89 

to  it !  Who  cares  for  a  baby  pledge  ? 
Let's  go  in  and  take  a  drink  to  treat 
the  resolution  to  be  our  own  masters." 

We  had  paused  on  the  outer  edge 
of  this  small  crowd ;  I,  because  I  was 
afraid  to  venture  through  it,  and  Susan, 
apparently,  because  she  was  fascinated. 
She  listened  eagerly  to  every  word,  and 
just  at  the  point  where  the  poor  fellow 
whom  they  called  "  John,"  seemed  to 
waver  and  look  about  him  as  one  who 
was  conquered  in  spite  of  himself,  to  my 
astonishment,  and  no  small  dismay,  she 
pushed  boldly  forward  into  the  midst  of 
the  group,  which  suddenly  parted  on 
cither  side  as  if  to  let  her  pass. 

"Mr.    Smith,"   she   said.     "What    utter 


90  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

nonsense  are  these  men  talking  to  you? 
Why  do  you  stop  to  listen  to  such 
folly  ?  No  work,  indeed !  Do  they  sup 
pose  that  all  the  men  in  this  city  who 
have  work  to  give,  are  owned  by  the 
rum-sellers,  and  the  rum-makers?  No 
danger  of  any  such  calamity  as  idle 
ness  befalling  honest  men  who  are  will 
ing  to  work.  Mr.  Smith,  /  will  see  that 
you  have  employment  by  seven  o'clock 
to-morrow  morning,  at  good  wages;  and 
I  promise  you  wrill  not  have  to  sell 
your  vote  in  order  to  get  it.  You  have 
the  right  to  vote  according  to  your 
own  good  sense,  without  being  at  the 
command  of  any  man;  you  should  stand 
up  for  that  right.  I  wish  you  would 


THE     QUESTION  AKGUED.  91 

walk  down  to  the  bakery  yonder  with 
me  ?  I  want  to  send  your  sick  wife 
something  to  tempt  her  appetite.  Will 
you  go  ? " 

"  Yes,  ma'am,   I   will,"  he  said   sturdily. 

And  away  we  tramped,  followed  by 
the  jeers  of  that  crowd,  some  of  whom 
were  intoxicated,  and  some  of  whom 
were  sober  enough  to  urge  the  others 
on.  We  heard  the  cries  of  "  petticoat 
sails,"  "old  maid's  apron  strings,"  and 
other  equally  refined  epithets. 

"  Mr.  Smith,"  said  Miss  Susan,  coolly, 
glancing  back  towards  the  crowd : 
"  What  do  you  think  of  being  found 
with  a  class  of  fellows  who  insult  me  ?  " 


92  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

"  I  think  I'd  like  to  shoot  'em,"  he 
said  vindictively. 

"  No,  don't  do  that ; "  she  answered 
quickly :  "  Show  yourself  superior  to 
them.  Mr.  Smith,  I  don't  think  your 
wife  is  quite  so  well  this  morning. 
She  is  very  anxious  over  your  troubles ; 
if  you  should  give  up  the  struggle  I 
am  afraid  it  would  kill  her." 

"  I  wont  give  up,"  he  said  under  his 
breath ;  and  he  set  his  teeth  hard,  as 
one  getting  ready  for  mortal  combat. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INCONVENIENT     PRINCIPLES. 
p 

WANT  to  go  away  down  on 
Vesey  street,"  said  Miss  Susan, 
directly  she  had  dispatched  her  man 
John  with  a  basket  of  dainties  to 
tempt  the  sick  wife.  "  Are  you  equal 
to  that  journey,  or  shall  I  put  you  in 
that  up-town  car  and  send  you  home  ? " 

"  I    am     not    to     be     sent    home,"     I 
93 


94  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

answered  promptly,  "  I  am  resolved  to 
see  this  day  out.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  astonishing  days  that  I  ever  lived." 
"  I  have  some  queer  days,"  she  said, 
smiling,  "  but  this  is  a  very  quiet  one. 
Did  you  see  the  look  of  disgust  on 
the  faces  of  those  fellows  when  I 
pushed  in  ?  They  expected  me  to  be 
afraid ;  but  I  wasn't.  I  wish  they  had 
attempted  violence,  it  would  have  been 
the  salvation  of  John  Smith.  I  should 
risk  their  having  much  influence  over 
him,  after  that.  However,  they  were  kind 
enough  to  insult  me,  and  that  will  have 
a  good  effect.  Poor  John  Smith !  he 
is  really  very  anxious  about  that  sick 
wife  of  his.  He  knows  that  the  thing 


INCONVENIENT    PRINCIPLES.  95 

she  desires  most  on  earth  is,  to  see 
him  a  reformed  man.  Let  alone,  he 
would  conquer ;  as  it  is,  he  needs  the 
strength  of  an  angel  and  the  courage 
of  a  martyr.  Isn't  it  an  absolutely  ap 
palling  thing,  to  think  of  there  being  laws 
made  giving  men  the  power  to  make 
a  fiend  of  him,  and  murder  his  wife? 
Sometimes,  that  license  business  makes 
my  blood  just  boil  with  rage,  and  at 
other  times  it  is  so  sublimely  ridiculous 
that  I  have  to  laugh.  Once  I  went  to 
a  temperance  lecture,  given  by  an  illit 
erate  sort  of  man,  but  he  used  one 
illustration  which  has  clung  to  me  ever 
since.  He  imagined  a  party  of  men 
standing  on  the  shore  of  a  dangerous 


96  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

stream,  near  the  rapids,  engaged  in  sav 
ing,  or  trying  to  save  poor  fellows  who 
were  whirling  down  the  angry  waters 
to  destruction.  He  described  the  eager 
ness  with  which  those  on  shore  worked  ; 
the  superhuman  strength  which  the 
effort  required,  and  the  horror  of  the 
failures.  Suddenly,  it  occurred  to  some 
man  wiser  than  the  rest,  to  rush  up 
stream  and  see  what  all  this  meant; 
why  so  many  men  were  being  thrown 
down  towards  the  rapids.  Behold,  up 
on  the  bridge  stood  a  man  who  was 
pitching  them  in,  one  after  the  other, 
with  the  most  composed  and  decorous 
air  imaginable  !  " 

"  See    here !  "    called   the   other,   "  stop 


INCONVENIENT   PRINCIPLES.  97 

that!  what  are  you  about?  don't  you 
know  enough  to  know  that  men  are 
being  drowned  down  there  in  the  rapids? 
They  have  gone  over,  dozens  of  them ; 
we  couldn't  save  them.  Are  you  mad  ? 
Stop!  I  say!" 

"  I  won't,"  said  the  man  in  calm  re 
ply.  "  My  friend,  I've  got  a  license.  I 
can  make  money  at  this  business.  If 
I  didn't  work  at  it  some  one  else 
would  ;  I  might  as  well  have  the  money 
as  any  one.  I'm  licensed  according  to 
law.  You've  no  right  to  stop  me ; " 
and  in  went  a  man ! 

"  Now,  of  course  a  critic  would  say 
that  the  cases  were  not  parallel,  that 
illustration  was  far-fetched,  and  all  that 


98  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

sort  of  thing;  /  don't  care  how  far  it 
was  fetched.  It  sometimes  seems  to  me, 
that  a  few  of  us  are  just  standing  down 
by  the  rapids,  trying  to  save  a  man 
here  and  there,  while  the  law  is  at 
work  licensing  men  to  stand  on  the 
bridge  and  pitch  them  in.  How  I 
wish  I  could  vote  !  " 

"  What  good  would  it  do  ?  The 
women  would  all  vote  just  as  their 
husbands  do,  and  what  would  be  gained  ? " 

"  Now,  my  dear  madam,  you  are  al 
ways  to  remember  that  some  of  us 
haven't  husbands ;  we,  at  least,  could  be 
supposed  to  have  minds  of  our  own. 
But  what  does  that  argument  amount 
to  ?  There  is  my  father  who  votes 


INCONVENIENT  PRINCIPLES.  99 

the  *  no-license '  ticket,  with  all  his 
strength.  If  women  could  vote,  there 
would  be  my  mother,  and  my  sister 
Alice  and  myself,  to  make  his  vote 
count  four.  Now,  suppose  for  a  mo 
ment,  that  he  voted  for  license,  —  if 
you  can  suppose  so  impossible  and  ab 
surd  a  thing.  Dorit  you  think  you  see 
my  mother,  and  my  mother  s  daughters 
doing  it"? 

"Well,  but,"  said  I,  "there  is  Joe 
Baker  who  lives  down  the  lane  from 
our  house ;  he  has  a  wife  and  four 
daughters,  and  he  votes  for  license,  and 
drinks  all  the  liquor  he  can  get." 

"  And  do  you  imagine  that  they 
would  cast  five  votes  on  his  side?  Let 


100  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

me  tell  you,  you  don't  know  them  if 
you  think  so.  I  do ;  and  I  know  that 
they  would  lie  down  and  die,  in  the 
attempt  to  reach  the  polls,  if  need  be, 
and  feel  that  they  had  not  lived  in 
vain,  if  they  had  cast  five  votes  for 
freedom  from  their  life  curse.  No 
ma'am,  those  who  profess  that  the  drunk 
ard's  wives,  and  sisters,  and  mothers, 
and  daughters,  would  vote  to  have  rum 
sold,  show  plainly  that  they  don't  know 
what  they  are  talking  about.  There  are 
doubtless  a  few  miserable  exceptions, 
women  whom  rum  has  so  degraded  that 
they  have  lost  their  womanhood;  but 
the  masses,  if  you  want  to  know  how 


INCONVENIENT   PEINCIPLES.  101 

they  would  vote,  visit  them  as  I  do, 
and  hear  them  talk,  and  pray ! " 

"  Do  you  believe  that  women  ever 
will  vote  ? "  I  asked  her,  branching 
from  the  argument  at  hand  with  the 
suddenness  of  a  politician  who  had 
been  worsted. 

"  Oh,  /  don't  know.  If  we  could 
have  some  new  laws  made,  by  which 
women  might  have  the  right  to  vote 
on  such  vital  subjects  as  these,  and  yet 
not  be  voted  for,  (not  be  'eligible  to 
office,'  you  know,  isn't  that  the  word  ? 
for  to  most  of  the  offices,  neither  na 
ture  nor  culture  leads  them),  I  should 
like  to  vote.  But  if  I've  got  to  be 
made  a  senator  of,  or  an  assembly  man- 


102  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

woman  of  —  or  submit  to  any  of  those 
degradations,  why,  Fm  afraid  I  should 
want  to  wait  awhile.  So  far  as  the 
mere  act  of  voting  is  concerned,  I 
think  an  immense  amount  of  twaddle 
has  been  written  and  spoken  concern 
ing  it.  I  know  some  dainty  little  bits 
of  flesh  and  blood,  and  silk  and  velvet, 
who  lisp  out  that  they  '  wouldn't  vote 
for  the  world !  it  would  be  stepping  out 
of  theirs  phere ;  tho  immodest  you  know, 
and  degrading;  calculated  to  dethtroy  all 
thenth  of  delicathy  and  refinement ! '  and 
those  same  creations  of  refinement  will 
dance  half  the  night  with  men  whom 
/  won't  recognize  on  the  street.  I  can 
conceive  of  more  immodest  things  than 


Mr.  Selmser.    — Page  105. 


INCONVENIENT     PRINCIPLES.  105 

the  slipping  of  a  bit  of  paper  into  a 
box." 

"  This  is  Vesey  street ;  I  want  to  go 
into  Mr.  Selmser's  office." 

"  Mr.  Selmser,"  she  said,  the  moment 
she  caught  sight  of  that  dignified  look 
ing  gentleman.  "  Have  you  any  vacant 
places  for  workmen  ?  " 

Mr.   Selmser  thought   not. 

"  Well,  now,  you  ought  to  have.  Are 
you  employing  temperance  men  ?  Have 
they  all  signed  the  pledge  ? " 

Well,  really,  as  to  that  Mr.  Selmser 
did  not  know;  there  were  no  drunk 
ards  among  his  workmen ;  he  never 
submitted  to  that,  but  whether  they 
were  pledge  signers  was  extremely 


106  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

doubtful ;  the  truth  was,  he  didn't  be 
lieve  he  had  ever  inquired. 

"  And  you  a  president  of  a  temper 
ance  society ! "  said  Miss  Susan,  with 
just  a  touch  of  dignified  surprise  in  her 
voice. 

"  Mr.  Selmser,  this  thing  needs  look 
ing  after.  The  liquor  party  can  afford 
to  provide  work  for  their  men ;  they 
can  afford  it  seems  to  buy  their  influ 
ence  and  their  time,  and  their  souls,  by 
promising  steady  employment  and  good 
wages.  Now  the  question  is :  what  are 
we,  on  our  side,  about  ?  Here  is  John 
Smith,  actually  thrown  out  of  employ 
ment,  because  he  has  signed  the  pledge ! 
and  a  chance  for  several  others  to  be 


INCONVENIENT   PRINCIPLES.  107 

served  in  the  same  way.  Are  we  going 
to  stand  that?" 

"  Well,  now,  Miss  Susan,  what  can  we 
do  about  it?" 

"  Do  about  it !  why,  see  that  they  have 
work,  of  course.  Is  there  nothing  in 
this  city  that  ought  to  be  done  ?  no  pub 
lic  improvements  that  would  furnish 
work,  and  be  a  blessing  to  the  people? 
I've  passed  at  least  three  streets  to-day, 
that  need  to  have  rows  of  old  buildings 
pulled  down  and  decent  ones  put  up. 
The  hovels  in  which  those  people  on 
Clark  street  are  living,  are  a  disgrace 
to  the  city.  And  the  park  needs  work 
done  in  it,  and  there  are  miles  of  road 
that  need  repairing,  why  of  course  all 


108  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

these  things  cost  money;  and  so  do 
poor  houses,  and  orphan  asylums,  and 
prisons." 

To  this  rush  of  earnest  words  Mr. 
Selmser  listened  in  a  sort  of  embar 
rassed  silence ;  and  I  could  not  help 
wondering  whether  Miss  Susan  knew, 
and  whether  he  remembered,  that  most 
of  the  "  hovels  on  Clark  street,"  were 
owned  by  himself.  Presently  he  rallied. 

"  Well,  but  Miss  Susan,  there  are  so 
few  of  the  people  having  the  means, 
who  feel  that  way;  we  couldn't  do  one 
hundredth  part  of  what  needs  to  be 
done  if  we  attempted  it." 

"  Then  we  clearly  should  not  be  re 
sponsible  for  the  one  hundredth  part, 


INCONVENIENT  PRINCIPLES.  109 

should  we  ?  but  simply  for  the  part  that 
we  could  do.  God  will  not  call  me  to 
account  for  your  undone  work,  Mr.  Selm- 
ser,  only  my  own." 

"  This  could  not  have  been  a  new  idea 
to  Mr,  Selmser ;  yet  he  seemed  struck 
with  it ;  and  I  was  not  surprised  to  hear 
several  weeks  thereafter,  that  a  regular 
system  had  been  put  in  operation,  whereby 
any  honest,  unemployed  man,  who  was 
a  signer  of  a  total  abstinence  pledge, 
could  find  employment  and  fair  wages  by 
applying  to  one  of  ten  men,  located  at 
convenient  portions  of  the  city.  The  im 
mediate  result  of  this  conversation  was, 
that  John  Smith  went  to  work  the  next 
morning  at  seven  o'clock. 


110  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

"  We  will  have  some  lunch,  now,"  said 
Miss  Susan,  as  we  turned  from  Mr. 
Selmser's  office.  "  We  are  not  likely  to 
get  home  until  after  the  dinner-hour." 

"  Very  well,"  I  said,  "  we  are  quite 
near  a  good  place.  Just  around  the  cor 
ner  on  Mason  street,  is  a  restaurant 
where  I  occasionally  lunch,  I  find  very 
good  accommodations." 

"  You  can't  mean  the  Mason  parlors !  " 
I  detected  surprise  not  unmingled  with 
indignation  in  the  voice  of  my  young 
friend.  In  spite  of  which  I  was  obliged 
to  meekly  admit,  that  I  did  mean  the 
Mason  parlors." 

"  Excuse  me,"  she  said,  decidedly ; 
"  but  I  can't  lunch  there.  Of  course 


INCONVENIENT   PRINCIPLES.  Ill 

you  do  not  know  that  the  back  room 
belongs  to  them,  and  that  they  retail 
wines  and  beer,  and  indeed,  anything  in 
that  line  which  is  called  for.  They  get 
no  custom  from  me." 

"  But  can  you  find  a  restaurant  where 
something  of  that  sort  isn't  sold  ? " 

"  Yes'm,  one,  at  least ;  several  for  that 
matter.  But  the  one  nearest  to  us  is  on 
Lincoln  street.  Not  a  very  stylish  place; 
the  fact  is,  they  can't  afford  to  be 
stylish,  because  they  are  not  supported 
by  rum ;  and  because  temperance  peo 
ple  do  not  go  out  of  their  way  to 
patronize  them.  But  things  are  clean 
and  neat." 

"  Isn't  it  nearly  half  a  mile   away  ? "  I 


112  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

asked,  still  speaking  meekly,  for  I  was 
getting  some  new  ideas. 

"  Yes'm  it  is ;  but  the  street-car  that 
we  can  take  at  the  corner  passes  their 
door.  Five  cents  and  fifteen  minutes 
will  take  us  there.  It  isn't  so  conve 
nient  as  the  Mason  parlors,  you  see. 
I  think  we  often  find  principles  incon 
venient  ;  don't  you  ? " 

To  this  question  I  made  a  sort  of 
muttering  reply ;  for  I  began  to  v  be 
dimly  conscious  that  hitherto  my  prin 
ciples  had  not  been  so  "  inconvenient," 
as  they  ought  to  have  been.  On  two 
other  occasions  during  that  memorable 
day  did  I  venture  to  offer  advice,  with 
unexpected  results.  As  we  were  has- 


INCONVENIENT    PEINCIPLES.  113 

tening  from  one  line  of  cars  to  another, 
I  espied  the  sign :  "  Burke's  oyster 
depot."  Aware  that  he  kept  the  best 
oysters  in  the  city,  I  asked :  "  Are  you 
mindful  of  your  mother's  commission 
about  oysters  ?  Here  is  Burke's." 

"  We  never  buy  at  Burkes,"  she 
answered  promptly. 

"  He  is  a  liquor  dealer,  you  know,  as 
we^l  as  an  oyster  dealer.  I  am  ever 
so  sorry,  for  I  like  his  oysters  better 
than  any  that  we  find,  —  which  is  another 
wise  thing  that  our  temperance  grocers 
submit  to.  The  idea  of  letting  a  liquor 
dealer  keep  the  best  oysters  in  town ! 
sometimes  it  really  seems  to  me  that 
the  brains  of  this  city  are  in  Satan's 


114  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

hands ;  and  he  certainly  knows  how  to 
manage  them." 

I  said  nothing  in  reply,  for  the  rea 
son  that  my  eye  had  caught  sight  of 
some  unusually  fine  looking  oranges. 

"  There  !  "  I  said,  "  you  were  looking 
for  nice  oranges,  you  will  see  none 
nicer  than  those  I  am  sure." 

Miss  Susan  stopped  short  in  the 
street,  and  gave  me  a  curious,  troubled 
look,  for  a  moment;  then  she  laughed 
outright. 

"Are  you  in  that  last  named  person's 
employ  to-day,  my  dear  madam  ? "  she 
asked,  "  or  is  it  pure  accident  that  you 
continually  direct  my  attention  to  res 
taurants,  oyster-depots,  groceries,  etc., 


INCONVENIENT    PEINCIPLES.  115 

where  the  main  article  of  dependence 
is  rum  ? " 

"  Is  this  a  rum  establishment,  too  ? " 
I  asked  in  surprise.  "  How  do  you 
find  those  things  out?  they  have  no 
sign.  I  never  even  thought  of  it  be 
fore." 

"  Which  is  precisely  the  difficulty 
with  two-thirds  of  our  temperance  men 
and  women ; "  she  answered,  with  kind 
ling  eyes.  "  They  don't  think,  and  indeed, 
many  of  them  wont  think.  It  is  not 
pure  thoughtlessness  in  all  cases,  either, 
it  is  —  well,  what  shall  I  call  it?  it 
looks  wonderfully  like  indifference.  -It 
is  *  more  convenient '  to  trade  at  a  rum- 
seller's  ;  or,  '  he  keeps  better  articles ; ' 


116  MY  DAUGHTER  SUSAN. 

or,  '  he  is  second  cousin  to  some  one's 
brother's  uncle's  cousin's  friend ! '  some 
reason  can  be  found  why  it  is  best  to 
patronize  him  in  spite  of  his  want  of 
principle.  Indeed,  I  meet  with  not  a 
few  women  who  do  not  descend  to  par 
ticulars,  but  content  themselves  with  that 
favorite  argument  among  a  certain  class 
of  Americans  ;  *  fiddlesticks  ! '  and  in 
some  respects  it  is  really  the  most  un 
answerable  argument  that  can  be  offered ; 
because,  after  you  have  given  what  you 
consider  to  be  an  earnest,  and  practi 
cal  reason  on  the  other  side,  —  what 
can  you  say  to  a  woman  who  tosses 
her  head,  and  curls  up  her  nose,  and 
answers  *  fiddlesticks ! '  I  tell  you,  dear 


Namby-pamby -ism.  — Page  119. 


INCONVENIENT   PRINCIPLES.  119 

friend,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  encour 
agement  that  the  temperance  cause  has 
made  the  advances  which  it  has,  when 
you  think  of  the  namby-pamby-ism  of 
one-third  of  its  nominal  advocates." 


CHAPTER  V. 

A    PARTY     AGAINST    A    PARTY. 

I 

CURING  the  time  that  we  were 
taking  our  lunch,  which,  I  ought 
to  say  in  passing,  we  took  on  Lincoln 
street ;  I  was  revolving  in  my  mind 
some  of  Miss  Susan's  last  statements, 
and  wondering  just  what  they  meant. 
At  last  my  thoughts  shaped  themselves 
into  question : 

1 90 


A  PAETY  AGAINST   A  PARTY.  121 

"  Why !  aren't  the  temperance  people 
as  a  rule  doing  about  as  much  as  they 
can  to  help  along  the  cause  ?  at  least, 
so  far  as  they  have  brains  to  see  what 
helps  it." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know ;  one  hates  to 
think  that  all  the  trouble  is  due  to 
lack  of  brains.  I  believe  that  man  was 
right,  whoever  he  was,  who  said  that 
half  the  people  in  the  world  would 
rather  be  called  wicked,  than  weak. 
But  you  don't  know  how  absurd  some 
things  are.  The  arguments  and  ex 
cuses  advanced  by  some  who  would 
like  to  appear  consistent,  would  perfectly 
amaze  you.  Girls,  are  worse  than  boys. 
I  think  boys  like  to  keep  a  show  of 


122  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

common  sense  on  their  side  when  they 
talk,  but  it  seems  to  make  no  differ 
ence  with  girls.  Some  of  us  tried  to 
have  them  show  that  Mr.  Mclntosh  of 
the  new  distillery,  you  know,  that  he 
must  get  into  respectable  business 
if  he  wanted  to  keep  respectable  com 
pany.  And  one  of  our  young  misses, 
said :  "  It  isn't  as  if  he  sold  liquor  by 
the  glass,  you  know;  his  business  is 
strictly  wholesale;  he  never  sells  less 
than  a  barrel  full." 

"What  do  you  think  of  that  for  an 
argument  in  favor  of  a  man's  position? 
Last  winter  two  or  three  young  ladies 
in  society  would  not  sign  our  total  ab 
stinence  pledge  because  they  couldn't 


A  PARTY  AGAINST  A  PAETY.  123 

allow  their  names  to  appear  in  such  a 
conspicuous  place.  And  those  very  ladies 
were  named  in  the  city  papers  a  few 
weeks  before,  on  the  occasion  of  their 
being  at  a  fancy  dress  party.  Their 
very  costumes,  down  to  minute  points, 
were  described.  Isn't  that  consistency ! 
Another  girl  wouldn't  sign  because  she 
'  did  not  approve  of  making  such  sol 
emn  promises.'  She  said  so,  anyway, 
but  she  was  married  this  fall,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  promises  she 
made  were  quite  as  solemn  as  those 
which  the  temperance  pledge  requires. 
Then  there  is  another  thing  that  tries 
my  patience  wonderfully.  For  the  sake 
of  the  cause,  I  wish  it  might  become 


124  MY  DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

fashionable  to  attend  temperance  meet 
ings.  It  is  absolutely  a  disgrace  to  our 
city,  that  we  cannot  get  a  respectable 
audience  of  church-going  people  out  to 
our  temperance  meetings. 

"The  most  trivial  excuses  are  made  — 
ludicrous,  if  they  were  not  sad.  '  Noth 
ing  new  can  be  said  about  temperance,' 
one  of  our  business  men  said  to  me 
last  week ;  '  don't  see  any  use  in  hav 
ing  meetings.'  Now  so  far  as  that  ar 
gument  proves  anything,  it  proves  too 
much.  Do  you  think  that  there  is  any 
thing  very  new  to  be  said  about  the 
way  of  salvation?  Others  find  fault 
about  the  speakers;  some  of  them  are 
so  dull,  and  some  of  them  make  gram- 


A   PAETY  AGAINST   A  PARTY.  125 

matical  errors,  and  some  of  them  speak 
too  long  !  Oh,  nonsense !  think  of  Chris 
tian  people  talking  in  that  way !  Men 
don't  act  so  about  politics.  As  if  the 
object  in  having  temperance  meetings 
was  to  please  the  intellect,  or  cultivate 
the  esthetic !  To  be  sure,  one  would 
rather  have  good  speakers  than  poor 
ones,  and  I  think  we  ought  to  try  for 
the  best  talent  there  is ;  but  why  can't 
Christian  people  at  least,  see  that  they 
have  no  right  to  consult  their  inclina 
tions  ?  that  the  object  is  to  save  souls, 
and  bodies,  and  that  in  every  conceiv 
able  place,  and  at  every  possible  time, 
when  an  opportunity  is  offered,  it  is 
their  duty  to  put  themselves  where 


126  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAtf. 

they   will   be  sure  to  be   counted   on  the 
right  side. 

We  were  on  the  street  again  by  this 
time,  and  my  voluble  friend  interrupted 
herself  to  say :  "  This  is  Mr.  Holland^ 
place  of  business ;  I  must  see  him  a 
minute."  He  was  a  young  man  of  dif 
ferent  stamp  from  any  whom  we  had 
seen  that  day,  and  Miss  Susan's  man 
ner  of  enlisting  him  was  noticeably  dif 
ferent  from  that  which  she  had  used 
with  the  others :  "  Mr.  Holland,  will 
you  help  us  ? "  This  was  her  first 
earnest  sentence.  It  was  just  the  sort 
of  sentence  to  interest  him.  Then  she 
told  of  the  evening's  plans,  and  of  the 
efforts  under  way  to  control  them.  "  We 


A   PARTY  AGAINST  A  PARTY.  127 

need  your  help,"  she  said  earnestly ; 
"  some  of  those  young  men  you  know, 
have  little  self  control ;  they  need  to 
be  led ;  will  you  help  to  lead  them  in 
the  right  direction  ?  " 

"  I  will  try ; "  he  answered  her,  with 
flushed  face  and  firmly  set  mouth.  u  I 
will  second  any  effort  that  you  desire 
to  make.  Miss  Susan,  you  can  depend 
upon  me." 

He  received  very  earnest  thanks.  No 
sooner  were  we  outside  of  his  office, 
than  my  friend  said  with  satisfaction 
in  her  voice : 

"  That  is  splendid !  Mr.  Holland  is 
one  of  our  reformed  men,  and  I  am 
always  a  little  bit  worried  about  him, 


128  MY  DAUGHTEE   SUSAN. 

just  for  the  reason  that  he  is  so  strong 
in  his  own  strength.  He  resents  the 
slightest  hint  that  any  place  may  be 
dangerous  to  him;  but  when  it  comes 
to  helping  others,  that  is  another  mat 
ter.  I  was  afraid  he  would  have  a  sus 
picion  that  I  feared  for  him." 

"  Your  temperance  work  doesn't  al 
ways  admit  of  the  exact  truth,  does  it  ? " 
I  asked,  more  for  the  sake  of  hearing 
how  she  would  answer,  than  because  I 
was  so  very  dull.  She  flashed  an  in 
quiring  glance  at  me,  as  she  replied 
promptly : 

"  It  doesn't  always  admit  of  telling 
all  you  know  to  everybody,  any  more 
than  most  other  subjects  of  importance 


A  PARTY  AGAINST   A   PAKTY.  129 

do,  but  if  you  think  I  did  not  tell 
the  exact  truth  to  Mr.  Holland,  you 
mistake.  Some  of  those  young  men 
are  much  weaker  than  he  is,  and  they 
need  his  help.  That  is  not  saying  that 
he  too,  is  not  in  need  of  help ;  yet,  since 
to  say  that  is  going  to  hinder  rather 
than  help  him,  why  should  I  say  it  ?  " 

We  were  passing  Mrs.  Chester's  ele 
gant  mansion  as  she  spoke,  and  that 
suggested  to  me  a  change  of  subject: 

"  I  wonder  that  you  are  not  engaged 
to  Mrs.  Chester,  this  evening;  she  has 
a  reception,  you  know." 

"  Yes'm,  but  I'm  never  engaged  to 
Mrs.  Chester  now-days,  and  I  do  what  I 
can  to  prevent  other  people  from  being. 


130  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

"  I  dread  her  influence  over  a  certain 
class,  more  than  I  do  that  of  any  rum- 
seller  among  them." 

"  Why,  pray  ?  " 

."  Because,  she  is  more  dangerous. 
Besides,  it  is  an  embarrassing  place  to 
visit.  Would  you  like  to  take  tea,  for 
instance,  with  a  person  who  was  in 
the  habit  of  decorating  her  table  with 
a  dozen  different  dishes,  which  you 
from  conscientious  scruples  would  have 
to  refuse  ?  I  really  think  that  woman 
is  more  talented  in  her  line  than  any 
one  I  know;  she  would  do  for  a  walk 
ing  cook-book.  Jellies,  of  all  flavors, 
peaches,  pears,  sauces,  pies,  cake,  even 
innocent  looking  custards,  are  danger- 


Mrs.  Chester.  —Page  133, 


A  PARTY  AGAINST   A   PARTY.  133 

ous  articles  to  touch  from  her  table. 
I  really  didn't  know  it  was  possible  to 
serve  up  Satan's  favorite  mixture  in  so 
many  ways,  until  I  knew  Mrs.  Chester. 
I  think  she  must  spend  her  time  in 
planning  new  dishes  that  she  can  make 
into  elegant  little  traps  for  catching  the 
unwary.  She  has  done  what  she  could 
towards  ruining  the  young  men  of  our 
city,  and  it  just  enrages  me  to  think 
how  powerless  she  would  be,  if  the 
young  ladies  of  her  set  would  take  the 
position  on  this  subject,  that  one  has 
a  right  to  expect  of  them.  But  we  are 
improving ;  one  by  one,  they  drop  out 
of  her  circle ;  there  are  several  now 


134  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

whom  she  invites  in  vain,  and  she  knows 
the  reason  why." 

"  How  late  it  is  !  did  you  imagine  it  ? 
This  matter  has  taken  more  time  than 
I  thought  it  would,  but  we  have  things 
in  train  now.  I  believe  we  can  go 
down  to  Roberts',  and  have  a  look  at 
the  new  pictures,  if  you  would  like." 

To  this  plan  I  eagerly  agreed ;  but 
as  we  were  turning  the  corner,  a  hur 
ried  gentleman  ran  against  us,  and  his 
hasty  "  I  beg  your  pardon,"  instantly 
changed  into :  "  Oh  Miss  Susan !  I  am 
glad  it  is  you,  we  need  you,  there  is 
trouble  ahead." 

"  What   trouble  ?  " 

"  Our    boys    at   the    school,    twenty   of 


A  PARTY  AGAINST   A  PARTY.  135 

them,  are  to  be  invited  to  a  gathering 
this  evening  at  Turner's,  an  impromptu 
affair— all  the  merrier  they  will  think  — 
a  moonlight  ride,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing.  There  will  be  plenty  of  wine; 
several  of  our  evening  school  boys, 
vote  for  the  first  time  in  the  coming 
election.  It  is  important,  you  see>  to 
pay  them  some  attention." 

"  You  don't  have  school  to-morrow 
evening  ?  " 

"  No,  I  thought  it  was  going  to  be 
specially  inconvenient ;  but  if  I  could 
have  foreseen  such  a  thing  as  this,  I 
should  have  tried  to  push  the  school, 
without  regard  to  convenience.  I  heard 
of  this  just  now,  by  accident ;  the  boys 


136  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAN. 

are  to  be  invited  as  a  school,  in  order 
to  catch  them  all;  is  there  anything 
that  we  can  do  at  this  late  hour?" 

Miss  Susan  thought,  looked  at  her 
watch,  and  was  silent  for  the  space  of 
a  minute,  then  said  briskly: 

"  Why,  yes,  of  course.  The  boys  need 
entertainment,  do  they?  I  don't  know 
but  that  is  a  good  idea,  but  it  be 
comes  us  to  see  that  they  have  it  in 
a  less  objectionable  way:  /'//  give  a 
party,  Mr.  Stuart;  will  you  give  the 
invitations  for  me,  at  once  ? " 

"  Tell  each  boy  that  he  is  to  invite 
the  young  lady  with  whom  he  would 
like  best  to  spend  the  evening,  to  ac 
company  him." 


A  PARTY  AGAINST   A  PARTY.  137 

"  When  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Stuart,  surprise 
and  admiration,  struggling  together  on 
his  face. 

"  Why  this  evening,  to  be  sure.  And 
you  must  hasten,  to  be  ahead  of  the 
others.  And  Mr.  Stuart,  will  you  after 
you  have  delivered  the  invitations,  see 
Frank  Holden,  and  tell  him  we  want 
his  help  at  once  ?  tell  him  to  come  to 
my  home,  please.  Where  are  we?  Oh, 
yes,  there  is  the  confectioner's  that  I 
want,  right  across  the  street.  Oh,  we'll 
have  a  charming  party.  You  may  come 
Mr.  Stuart,  for  a  little  while;  not  long, 
you  know;  we  don't  .want  any  dig 
nity  or  propriety,  this  evening.  I'm 
very  sorry,"  she  added,  turning  to  me, 


138  MY  DAUGHTER   SUSAK. 

"  but  I'm  afraid  we  shall  have  to  give 
up  the  art-gallery  to-day ;  for  you  see 
we  must  hurry  home  and  get  ready 
for  a  party.  Mr.  Stuart,  when  it  is 
convenient,  you  may  thank  those  peo 
ple  down  at  Turner's  for  their  pro 
spective  entertainment.  It  has  given 
me  a  new  idea.  It  is  not  the  first 
time  I  have  thought  that  Satan's  emis 
saries  have  some  very  good  plans." 

Mr.  Stuart  looked  after  her  as  she 
made  a  sudden  dash  towards  the  con 
fectioner's,  and  as  I  lingered  to  have  a 
word  with  "him  on  my  own  account,  he 
said :  "  That  girl  is  worth  forty-five  tem 
perance  lectures,  and  a  dozen  temper 
ance  conventions." 


A   PARTY   AGAINST   A   PARTY.  139 

"  Now  for   home,"    Miss  Susan  said,  as 

she    turned  with  a  satisfied  air   from  the 

i 

elegant  counter,  where  she  had  been 
giving  royal  orders  for  an  evening  enter 
tainment. 

I  had  been  musing  while  I  watched 
her,  and  now,  giving  voice  to  my 
thoughts,  I  said :  "  After  all,  there  are 
very  few  people  who  can  do  these  things, 
they  haven't  the  money." 

"  I  know  it,"  she  said  quickly.  "  The 
money  is  father's  part;  he  has  the 
money,  and  I  have  the  time,  so  we  con- 
bine  our  forces ;  he  earns  the  money  and 
I  spend  it. 

"  But  don't  you  know  there  are  a 
hilndred  ways  of  working?  Some  peo- 


140  MY   DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

pie  can  give  temperance  lectures,  and 
some  people  can  write  temperance  books, 
and  some  people  can  employ  men  who 
are  trying  to  reform,  and  some  people 
can  open  their  homes  for  the  enter 
tainment  of  tempted  young  men,  and 
some  people  can  make  their  kitchens 
neat  and  sweet  for  the  help  of  the 
tempted  husband,  or  son,  and  some 
people  can  study  how  to  make  the 
mince  pies,  rich,  and  juicy,  and  delight 
ful,  without  the  aid  of  a  drop  of  brandy. 
Oh,  there  are  so  many  ways  !  ways  that 
don't  need  money  at  all.  In  point  of 
fact,  my  friend,  do  you  realize  that  this 
last  venture  of  mine  takes  the  first 
cent  of  money  which  I  have  spent  for 


How  to  make  the  rnince  pies,  — ,-P^tf  140, 


A   PARTY  AGAINST  A  PARTY.  143 

the  cause  to-day  ?  And  as  for  parties 
other  people  give  them,  temperance  peo 
ple,  too ;  the  question  is :  why  dorit 
they  consecrate  them  ?  It  doesn't  seem 
to  me  that  it  is  money,  or  time,  or 
strength,  or  talent,  that  is  lacking,  it 
is  the  consecrated  heart.  A  heart  that 
is  given  first  to  Christ,  and  secondly,  to 
His  work,  whatever  form  it  may  take, 
or  whatever  may  be  the  door  that  opens. 
'  Do  with  thy  might,  whatsoever  thy 
hand  findeth  to  do ; '  is  our  commission, 
you  know ;  and  in  order  to  find  things, 
we  have  to  look  for  them.  People  talk 
sometimes,  about  ambition,  as  if  it  were 
a  wicked  thing.  I  think  it  is  a  mis- 


144  MY  DAUGHTER     SUSAN. 

directed  ambition  which  causes  trouble, 
don't  you  ?  " 

By  this  time  we  had  reached  her 
father's  house,  and  as  she  ascended  the 
steps  she  turned  to  me  with  her  whole 
face  aglow  with  feeling.  "  I  declare  to 
you,"  she  said : 

"  That  I  have  an  all  absorbing,  a 
consuming  ambition ;  it  is  to  have  the 
King  put  his  hand  on  mine,  and  say : 
'  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant.' 
I  want  to  be  a  good  servant;  I  shall 
not  be  content  without  the  commenda 
tion  promised  to  those  who  faithfully 
serve,  my  ambition  craves  it.  Now,  \ve 
must  go  to  work ;  I  mean  that  those 
boys  shall  have  the  nicest  time  to-night 


A   PARTY  AGAINST  A  PARTY.  145 

that  they  ever  had  in  their  lives.  You 
arc  to  help,  my  friend ;  yo'i  are  to 
make  some  perfectly  exquisite  bouquets. 
Do  you  suppose  many  people  who  have 
flowers,  realize  their  refining  influence 
on  young  men  ?  I  wonder  if  people 
realize  that  they  can  arrange  flowers 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  glorify  the 
Lord  of  the  garden?  Such  remembrances 
make  glowing  work  of  life,  I  think. 

"  Who  sweeps  a  room,  as  for  thy  law, 
Makes  that,  and  the  action  fine." 

"You  know  I  am  glad  the  grand  old 
author  said  that.  And  yet,  an  older  and 
grander  author  said  it  better.  '  Whoso 
ever  giveth  a  cup  of  cold  water,'  you 
know.  And  then  he  intensified  it,  with 


146  MY   DAUGHTER    SUSAN. 

his  wonderful :  '  Inasmuch.'  Don't  you 
love  that  word  ?  '  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
unto  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye 
did  it  unto  me.'  Think  of  that!  I  tell 
you,  I  must  have  that  reward." 

Does  anybody  doubt  but  that  she 
will  one  day  hear  the  grand  voice  say: 
"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ; 
thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things,  enter  thou  into  the  joy 
of  thy  Lord?" 

THE    END. 


THE   CHAUTAUQUA   GIRLS  AT  HOME- 

By  Pansy.     I2mo.     Illustrated I  50 

'  Pansy  knows  girls,  and  has  the  gift  of  story-telling,  by  which 
th«  hard  facts  of  every-day  life  take  on  a  charm  as  of  fairy-land.  No 
one  can  look  into  'The  Chautauqua  Girls*  without  feeling  the 
subtle  fascination  of  its  pictures  of  quiet  life,  and  being  drawn  into 
warm  sympathy  with  the  four  friends  who  long  to  form  noble  char 
acters.  They  have  been  won  to  a  love  of  Jesus  by  attending  a 
camp-meeting  at  Chautauqua ;  but  they  find  it  so  hard  to  be  true 
to  their  new  impulses,  and  to  carry  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  into 
every-day  life,  that  the  story  of  their  struggles,  disheartening  fail 
ures  relieved  by  partial  successes,  is  very  human  and  full  of  genuine 
pathos.  It  is  good  summer  reading,  for  beguiling  away  hours,  and 
inspiring  with  generous  purposes." 

"Pansy's  last  book,  'The  Chautauqua  Girls  at  Home,'  is  as 
fresh  and  inspiring  as  a  fine  morning  in  June.  The  four  friends, 
Marion,  Ruth,  Flossy  and  Eurie,  are  of  genuine  flesh  and  blood, 
with  the  petty  weaknesses  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  and  the  noble  aspi 
rations  that  come  at  times  to  every  high-minded  girl.  Their  unlikc- 
ness  to  each  other  in  character  and  social  position,  and  their  mutual 
helpfulness  in  all  sorts  of  difficulties,  make  a  delightful  story ;  in 
structive  as  well  as  fascinating.  One  finds  it  hard  to  lay  down  the 
book  after  beginning  the  first  chapter.  It  will  find  many  readers 
who  will  welcome  its  stimulating  power  to  high  aims  in  life,  and  to 
patience  and  hope  in  fighting  hard  battles." 

Boston:   D.  LOTHROP  &>  CO.,  Publishers. 


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